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1 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

Joseph  P.   Loeb 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/cockpitromanticdOOzangiala 


THE  COCKPIT 

Romantic  Drama  in  Three  Acts 


By 
ISRAEL   ZANGWILL 


The  War  God 

Plaster  Saints 

Chosen  People 

Ghetto  Comedies 

Ghetto  Tragedies 

Italian  Fantasies 

The  Melting  Pot 

The  Next  Religion 

Jinny,  The  Carrier 

The  Voice  of  Jerusalem 

The  King  of  Schnorrers 

Children  of  the  Ghetto 

The  World  and  the  Jew 

The  War  for  the  World 

The  Principle  of  Nationalities 


THE  COCKPIT 


Romantic  Drama  in  Three  Acts 


BY 

ISRAEL  ZANGWILL 


jfrrto  tfotft 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

192 1 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1921, 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  clectrotyped.       Published  November,  1921. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


TO  ALFRED  SUTRO 


College 
library 

5*1 3.  A 


My  dear  Alfred, 

Your  inspiring  criticism  and  commendation  of  this 
j  play  while  it  was  still  plastic  has  suggested  to  me  to 
dedicate  it  to  our  old  friendship.  That  friendship  was 
already  well  and  truly  laid  before  "The  Walls  of 
Jericho"  rose,  and  it  was  cemented  by  holidays  to- 
gether in  Europe  ere,  caught  in  the  coil  of  passports, 
visas  and  commerce-strangling  currencies,  the  inhab- 
itants of  that  unhappy  Continent  had  turned  into  a 
mutual  irritation  society.  The  multiplication  of  "Sov- 
ereign States"  has  intensified  the  old  plague  of  Custom 
Houses,  and  on  the  eve  of  a  fresh  journey  across  the 
Channel,  I  think  with  horror  of  the  swarms  of  able- 
bodied  varlets,  waiting,  in  fancy  costumes,  at  every 
frontier,  to  turn  me  out  of  my  train  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  in  any  weather,  when  they  ought  to  be  at 
work  reconstructing  the  Continent  of  which  we  are  all 
citizens. 

For  what,  in  effect,  does  one  find  even  in  the  heart 
of  "The  Cockpit"  ?  Peasant  populations  toiling  from 
dawn  to  darkness,  the  women  following  the  men  to 
the  fields,  with  distaffs  on  their  backs,  and  their  chil- 
dren tugging  at  their  skirts,  and  all  for  a  crust  dipped 
in  soup,  a  song,  a  folk-tale,  or  the  smile  in  a  baby's 
eyes.  It  is  hard  to  tell  one  people  from  another.  I 
have  not  yet  learnt  what  has  happened  in  Valdania  or 


712733 


Bosnavina  since  I  dropped  the  curtain  on  these  quar- 
relsome countries,  but  of  one  thing  I  am  certain — that 
their  individuals  are  intermarrying.  If  the  politicians 
would  only  leave  it  alone,  "The  Cockpit,"  linked  as 
never  before  by  railways,  telegraphs,  cinematographs 
and  aeroplanes,  would  become  of  itself  "The  Melting 
Pot." 

Curiously  enough,  this  pendant  to  my  play  on  that 
theme  was  written  near  Geneva  while  the  League  of 
Nations  was  in  session — in  the  Switzerland  whose 
French,  German  and  Italian  provinces  offer  a  work- 
ing model  and  prophetic  emblem  of  a  saner  Europe — 
and  it  receives  its  last  touches  on  the  eve  of  the  Wash- 
ington Conference,  which  provides  our  war-worn 
humanity  with  a  fresh  spurt  of  hope.  One  recalls  that 
it  was  Abraham  Lincoln  who  said  of  his  countrymen : 
"We  shall  nobly  save  or  meanly  lose  the  last  great 
hope  of  earth." 

But  I  am  forgetting  that  for  the  reader  the  curtain 
has  not  yet  risen.  I  hasten  to  efface  myself,  with  the 
perhaps  superfluous  assurance  that  in  accepting  the 
dedication  of  this  play,  you,  dear  Alfred,  are  in  no 
wav  committed  to  its  vision  or  analysis  of  the  factors 
of  "The  Cockpit." 

Believe  me  in  admiration  and  affection, 

Yours  sincerely, 

Israel  Zangwill. 
October,  192 1. 


"There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one.  There  is  none  that  under- 
standeth,  there  is  none  that  seeketh  after  God.  .  .  .  Their  throat  is 
an  open  sepulchre;  with  their  tongues  have  they  used  deceit;  the  poison 
of  asps  is  under  their  lips:  Whose  mouth  is  full  of  cursing  and  bitter- 
ness. Their  feet  are  swift  to  shed  blood.  Destruction  and  misery 
are  in  their  ways.  And  the  way  of  peace  have  they  not  known." — 
St.  Paul:  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 


"He  who  chooses  to  avenge  wrong  with  hatred  is  assuredly 
wretched,  but  he  who  strives  to  conquer  hatred  with  love  fights  his 
battle  in  joy  and  confidence;  he  withstands  many  as  easily  as  one,  and 
has  very  little  need  of  fortune's  aid.  Those  whom  he  vanquishes  yield 
joyfully,  not  through  failure,  but  through  increase  in  their  powers. 
Hatred,  which  is  completely  vanquished  by  love,  passes  into  love." 
— Spinoza. 


All  performing  rights  of  this  play  in 
every  country  are  strictly  reserved  by 
the  author.  Applications  for  Ameri- 
can and  filming  rights  should  be  ad- 
dressed to  Mr.  L.  A.  Steinhardt,  of 
Messrs.  Guggenheimer,  Untermyer 
&  Marshall,  120  Broadway,  New 
York  City,  U.  S.  A. 


THE  COCKPIT 

Romantic  Drama  in  Three  Acts 


DRAMATIS  PERSONAE 


Nicholas  Stone 

Oliver  Randel 

Duke  D'Azollo 

Colonel  the  Marquis  Fiuma 

Count  Cazotti 

Baron  Gripstein 

General  Roxo 

The  Cardinal 
The  Patriarch 

Marrobio 

Captain  Theopolou 

Corporal  Vanni 

VlTTORIO 

Duchess  D'Azollo 

Countess  Cazotti 

Norah 

Peggy 


A  Ne<w  Yorker  with  a  past 

An  American  Architect 

Ex-Regent  of  Valdania 

Governor  of  the  Palace  of  San  Marco 

Prime  Minister  of  Valdania 

Financier,  afterwards  President  of 
the  Man-Po<wer  Board 

Governor  of  Scaletta,  afterwards 
War  Minister 

Head  of  the  Catholics  of  Valdania 

Head  of  the  Greek  Church  in  Val- 
dania 

A  Mahdi,  head  of  the  Moslem  rebels 

Of  the  Rolmenian  Cavalry 

Of  the  Palace  Guards 

A  Pacifist  Poet 

Mistress  of  the  Robes,  and  Grand 
Mistress  of  the  Court 

First  Lady  of  the  Bedchamber 

Nicholas  Stone's  Irish  Servant 

Of  New  York  and  Scaletta 


Court  Officials,  Dames  and  Maids  of  Honour,  Pages, 
Choristers,  Priests  and  Guards. 

The  action  passes  in  our  day.  Act  I  at  Nicholas  Stone's  Sitting-Room 
in  New  York,  Acts  II  and  III  in  the  Throne  Room  of  the  old  San 
Marco  Palace  at  Scaletta,  the  capital  of  Valdania. 


Act  I 

The  scene  represents  a  spacious  sitting-room  in  New 
York  on  a  sunny  afternoon  in  the  spring.  The 
room  is  soberly  furnished,  but  with  every  sign  of 
ease  and  refinement.  A  central  table  of  fine  wood. 
A  grand  piano  littered  with  music  stands  by  the 
right  wall — right  from  the  actor's  point  of  view, 
not  the  spectator's — at  L.  a  desk  with  a  telephone, 
and  a  waste-paper  basket  holding  a  Sunday  paper, 
etc.  A  door  in  the  right  wall  leads  to  the  kitchen 
regions,  a  curtained  portal  to  the  left  towards  the 
upper  regions,  while  the  door  in  the  back  wall  gives 
access  to  the  entrance  hall.  As  the  curtain  rises, 
NORAH,  an  Irish  servant  of  45,  is  ushering  in 
Oliver  randel,  a  manly  young  American,  who 
carries  a  portfolio. 

NORAH   {Grumpily,  in  an  Irish  accent  modified  by 

years  of  America] 
Sit  right  down !     I'll  tell  Mr.  Stone  you're  here  again. 

OLIVER 

Oh  I  know  he's  always  busy  on  his  books.    Miss  Stone 
will  do  as  well 

NORAH  {With  sardonic  humour] 

Miss  Peggy?    You're  sure  she'll  do  as  well? 

OLIVER   {Enthusiastically] 
Quite ! 


NORAH 
She's  out. 

OLIVER 

Oh!    .    .    .   Where? 

NORAH 

On  her  horse. 

[OLIVER  makes  an  instinctive  move  doorwards.] 
She'd  keep  you  on  the  run — like  a  movie.     And  Mr. 
Stone'll  keep  you  waiting,  like  a  dentist. 

OLIVER  [Sitting  down] 

Oh,  I've  time  to  burn.     May  I  look  at  that  paper? 
[Points  to  waste-paper  basket.] 

NORAH  [Astonished] 
Yesterday's? 

OLIVER 

The  Sunday  paper  is  like  the  Sunday  roast — it  lasts 
days. 

[norah  extracts  it.] 
Thanks    .    .    .    just  the  one  I  haven't  seen   .    .    .    No, 
never  mind  the  comic  part! 

NORAH 

Faith,  there's  nothing  heartening  in  the  rest — if  half 
the  headlines  is  true,  I'm  sorry  I  ever  came  to  America ! 
2 


OLIVER  [Busy  turning  the  pages] 

But  think  how  you'd  be  oppressed,  if  you  had  stopped 

in  Ireland  I 

NORAH 

I  guess  if  we  Irish  got  top-dog  here,  we'd  oppress 
America ! 

[Turns  to  go  upstairs.     Her  eye  catches  a  comic 

illustration.] 
Gee  !     That's  funny ! 

OLIVER  [Staring  eagerly  at  a  picture] 
Ah,  here  it  is! 

NORAH 
Here  what  is? 
[Turns  back.] 

OLIVER 

Oh,  nothing. 

NORAH 

Then  why  didn't  you  say  so?    .    .    . 
[Resumes  walk  to  stairs.] 

You're  in  luck.     There's  the  master  coming  down. 

You  can  tell  him  you're  here  yourself. 

[Moves  slowly  towards  R.,  her  head  bent  over 
paper,  her  face  agrin.  Enter  NICHOLAS  stone,  a 
noble,  white-bearded,  spectacled  veteran,  with  the 
scholar's  stoop  and  shabbiness.  He  comes  peering 
into  his  desk  at  L.] 

3 


NICH.  [Surprised,  as  he  perceives  the  visitor] 
Mr.  Randel? 

OLIVER  [Rising] 

I  intrude,  I  fear.     But  I'm  going  West  to-morrow. 

NICH. 

Going  West,  young  man?    Obeying  Horace  Greeley? 

OLIVER 

It's  the  big  new  University  they're  to  build 

NICH. 

Oh,    ah — the   how   many   million   dollar   University? 
And  have  you  sent  in  your  design  yet? 

OLIVER 

It's  all  over.     I've  won.     Out  of  eighty-three  com- 
petitors ! 

NICH.  [Seizes  his  hand] 
I  congratulate  you. 

OLIVER 

My  picture  was  in  all  the  Sunday  papers. 

NICH.  [Dropping  his  hand] 
I  take  back  my  congratulations. 

OLIVER  [Smiling] 

Oh,  sir,  you  may  gird  at  our  press — but  at  least  they 

give  an  architect  as  much  space  as  an  assassin. 

4 


NICH. 

Not  quite.  You've  got  your  hand  on  a  full-page  pic- 
ture of  General  Roxo. 

OLIVER  [Looking  at  it  and  reading] 
"Valdania's  grand  old  man."     You  are  severe. 

NICH. 

What  are  all  these  national  heroes  but  glorified  assas- 
sins? 

[As  NORAH  is  going  out] 
Coffee,  Norah,  please. 

NORAH  [Gurgling  over  paper] 
Sure! 

[Exit  with  heaving  shoulders.] 

OLIVER  [Proffering  portfolio] 
Would  you  like  to  see  my  design? 

NICH.   [Waving  it  aside] 

Ah,  I  know  how  good  American  architecture  is,  and 

the  best  out  of  eighty-three !    If  I  could  only  be  as 

sure  the  University  will  teach  Americanism !  People 
have  such  a  mania  for  buildings — theatres  before 
they've  got  plays,  opera-houses  before  they've  got 
music. 

OLIVER  [Opening  portfolio] 

But  that's  just  what  my  design  expresses — Ameri- 
canism. 


NICH. 

Mayflower  Americanism? 

OLIVER 

Of  course!  Note  the  severe  and  solemn  lines — the 
old  Puritan  Americanism  which  the  slums  of  Europe 
are  swamping. 

NICH.  {Waving  it  away] 

I  thought  you  didn't  understand.  No  man  born  here 
can — no  man  who  hasn't  suffered  from  Europe !  No, 
Mr.  Randel,  that  old  Puritan  America  wasn't  America. 

OLIVER 

Not  America? 

NICH. 

No.  Only  England  over  again — writ  even  narrower. 
America  is  still  being  born — born  out  of  the  travail  of 
all  races.  God  help  the  world  if  she  proves  an  abor- 
tion— if  she  hardens  into  the  same  old  nationalism  as 
Europe — the  same  old  fetish  of  the  flag. 

OLIVER  [Fiercely] 
Fetish? 

NICH.  [Laying  a  fatherly  hand  on  his  shoulder] 
Yes,    I    know   you    offered   your   life    in   the    Great 
War 

OLIVER 

Oh,  I  only  flew — it  was  much  safer  than  the  trenches. 
6 


NICH. 

Tell  that  to  the  marines!     But  anyhow  it  was  for  our 

ideal  you  adventured,  not  our  flag. 

OLIVER 

The  flag  stands  for  it. 

NICH. 

Flags  have  a  way  of  standing  only  for  themselves.  In 
all  history  there  has  been  only  one  honest  flag — the 
skull  and  cross-bones ! 

OLIVER 

You  are  cynical,  sir. 

NICH. 

On  the  contrary.  My  faith  is  so  burning  that  it  re- 
duces the  toughest  shams  to  tinder. 

[Extends  hand.] 
I'm  afraid  I  must  get  back  to  my  book,  The  Nemesis 
of  Nationality;  a  good  title,  is  it  not? 

OLIVER  [Holding  out  his  hand] 
Yes,  but 

NICH.  [Dropping  his  hand] 
You  don't  think  it  a  good  title? 

OLIVER 

It's  a  bully  title.     But   .    .    .   but  unless  I  see  Miss 

Stone  to-day  I  mayn't  be  able  to  say  good-bye  to  her. 

7 


NICH. 

I  will  convey  your  adieux. 

OLIVER   [Embarrassed] 

I'd  rather  convey  them  myself.    .    .    .   You  see  now 

that  the  papers   .    .    . 

[Correcting  himself  hastily.] 
I  mean,  now  that  I'm  making  good,  I  want — I  want 
to  ask — her  advice! 

NICH. 

Little  Peggy's  advice!  Why,  she's  wrapped  up  in 
her  music — she  knows  nothing  of  the  world !  No,  no, 
my  young  friend,  if  you  want  advice,  come  to  me.  You 
mayn't  think  it,  to  see  me  buried  in  books,  but  I've 
been  quite  a  man  of  affairs  in  my  time — when  you  were 
both  in  your  cradles !    Come  now,  what  is  the  trouble  ? 

OLIVER 

You're  so  busy.     I'd  rather  wait  for  her. 

NICH. 

But  that's  so  dull  for  you.  What  could  you  do?  Ah, 
you  could  read  my  MS.  ? 

OLIVER  [Joyously] 
The  very  thing  I  wanted! 

NICH.  [Beaming] 

Come  along  then — I'll  put  you  on  the  roof-garden. 

[ The  telephone  bell  rings.] 
8 


Ah,  why  would  Peggy  insist  on  that?    Do  get  the  MS. 
yourself — you  know  my  study. 

[OLIVER  exit  L.     NICHOLAS  goes  to  telephone] 
Yes,  I'm  Mr.  Stone.    ...   I  can't  hear.    ...   Of 
course  I'm  home,  but  who's  speaking?    General  Secre- 
tary?    General  Secretary  of  what?     Corpo  li  Bacco, 
they've  rung  off. 

[Enter  NORAH  with  coffee-tray.] 

NORAH 

I'm  so  glad  you've  got  rid  of  him. 

NICH. 

Mr.  Randel?    He's  waiting  upstairs  for  Miss  Peggy. 

[Her  tray  rattles.] 
What's  the  matter? 

NORAH 

Can't  you  see  he's  a  thief?  Oh,  he  won't  pinch  your 
books !     It's  a  body-snatcher,  he  is ! 

NICH.   [Dazed] 
A  body-snatcher? 

NORAH 

It's  Miss  Peggy  he's  after! 

NICH. 

Eh?  Nome  di  Dio,  what  would  the  house  be  without 
her?  But  no !  no !  he's  going  West.  He  only  came  to 
say  good-bye! 

9 


NORAH 

The  most  dangerous  word  of  all !     Get  him  West  be- 
fore he  can  put  his  tongue  to  it. 
[Puts  tray  on  table.] 

NICH.  [Agitated] 

I'll  get  rid  of  him  at  once.    .    .    . 

[Goes  L.    Pause.] 
But  it's  a  pity  to  disturb  him  in  the  middle  of  my  MS. 
After  all,  he  can't  carry  her  off  this  afternoon! 

NORAH 

He  can  carry  her  heart  off. 

NICH. 

Well,  but  why  not?  .  .  .  Some  years  hence,  of 
course.    .    .    .   He  seems  a  gifted  young  man 

NORAH 

A  farmer's  son  for  the  likes  of  her ! 

NICH. 

Ah,  but  remember,  Norah,  in  her  peculiar  situation  it's 
not  so  easy  to  find  a  suitable — indeed,  perhaps  the 
humbler  the  young  man's  origin  the  better  I 

NORAH 

Sure,  you're  joking. 

NICH. 

Not  at  all.  Because— don't  you  see? — his  folks  will 
make  fewer  inquiries.  They  won't  go  poking  into  the 
10 


past,  they  and  their  lawyers,  demanding  pedigrees, 
birth-certificates,  who  knows  ?  We  are  rich — that  will 
cover  everything. 

NORAH 

I  guess  you're  right.  I  hadn't  thought  of  the  family 
ferreting  out  that  Miss  Peggy  is  a 

NICH. 

Sh! 

NORAH 

All  the  same,  she  can  do  better  than  this  Mr.  Randel. 
Besides,  he's  a  Protestant!  .  .  .  I'll  run  up  and  tell 
him  the  'phone  message  was  to  say  she  won't  be  home 
till  morning. 

NICH.  [Smiling] 

What  a  brilliant  liar  you  are  1 

NORAH 

Sure,  it's  as  easy  as  truth  1 
[Going  L.] 

NICH.  [Sighing] 

Ah,  truth's  not  always  so  easy.    .    .    .   You've  never 

breathed  a  word  to  her  about  Valdania? 

NORAH 

Faith,  I've  nigh  forgotten  the  country  exists — I  almost 

believe  with  the  darlint  she  was  born  in  New  York ! 

ii 


[Going  towards  stairs  L.] 
As  for  the  language,  divil  a  word  do  I  remember  ex- 
cept Corpo  di  Bacco! 

NICH. 

Too  late,  Norah,  I  hear  her  latchkey. 

NORAH   [Returning] 

That  young  man  has  the  divil's  own  luck!     Anyways, 

don't    leave    'em    alone,    sir.      Two's    courtship    and 

three's  conversation. 
[Exit  R.] 

[ PEGGY  in  a  riding-habit  dashes  through  central 
door,  flushed  from  her  ride,  a  radiant  figure,  whose 
face  mirrors  with  tremulous  flashings  an  eager 
young  soul  untarnished  by  experience.] 

PEGGY   [Leaving  door  open  and  rushing  to  piano- 
music] 
Where's  my  "Neapolitan  Fantasy"  ? 

NICH. 

What's  up? 

PEGGY  [Searching  wildly] 

I  met  Teresa — she  wants  to  take  the  manuscript  to 

Europe — she  sails  Saturday. 

NICH. 

But  why  can't  Teresa  travel  without  your  manuscript? 
12 


PEGGY 

She's  going  to  show  it  to  a  publisher,  stupid.    There's 
more  chance  over  there. 

NICH. 

But  /  offered  to  publish  it 


PEGGY 

No,  no,  it  mustn't  be  paid  for — my  music  must  win  out 
of  itself.    Ah,  here  it  is ! 

[Picks  up  MS.  music] 
Heigho !  Teresa  set  me  just  hungering  for  Europe ! 

NICH. 

You  would  leave  daddy? 

PEGGY 

I'd  take  him  too. 

NICH. 

There's  too  much  globe-trotting,   carissima.     People 
ought  to  stay  put. 
[Closes  door.] 

PEGGY 

At  that  rate,  daddy,  you'd  be  in  England. 
[Rolling  up  MS.] 

NICH.   [Embarrassed] 

Yes,   but Is   that  the  piece  suggesting  Naples 

during  an  earthquake? 

13 


PEGGY 

An  eruption  of  Vesuvius. 

NICH. 

Ah,  an  eruption.  It  should  be  popular  with  pianists. 
They  love  fireworks. 

PEGGY 
Don't  tease. 

[Lays  music-roll  on  table.] 
What  appalling  cups ! 

[Rings  bell  by  door  sharply,  then  starts  taking  off 

her  riding-hat.    Enter  NORAH.] 
Why  these  dreadful  enamelled  cups? 

NORAH 

Faith,  the  master  is  that  fond  of  toasts,  the  gentlemen 
always  crack  'em  together — they  forget  it's  coffee,  not 
drink.     I  can't  have  my  best  china  chipped. 

PEGGY 

Rubbish!  You  give  the  house  too  poor  an  appear- 
ance as  it  is,  monopolising  the  work,  scarcely  allow- 
ing us  even  a  cook. 

NORAH  [Bridling] 

I  guess  I've  made  Mr.  Stone  comfortable  all  these 

years. 

PEGGY 

In  our  position  we  ought  to  have  a  proper  staff. 
14 


NORAH 

I'm  not  going  to   have  more   servants — they'd  only 
make  more  work  for  me ! 

PEGGY 

Don't  talk  to  me  in  that  tone ! 

NICH.  [Upset] 
Peggy! 

PEGGY 

Take  away  those  cups! 

NORAH  [Overawed] 
Yes,  miss. 

PEGGY  [Stamping  foot] 
But  you're  not  doing  it ! 

NORAH 

I  must  get  my  tray,  miss. 
[Exit  humbly  R.] 

PEGGY  [Smiling] 

You  see,  daddy,  you  let  her  domineer  too  much! 

NICH. 

I  see  you  are  your  father's  daughter! 

PEGGY 

I  like  that!     Why,  you  don't  even  assert  yourself. 

i5 


NICH.   [Confused] 

I — we — I  mean  I  can't  assert  myself  against  Norah. 

iWe  both  owe  her  too  much. 

PEGGY 

Oh,  I  know  she  nursed  me  and  all  that.     But  all  the 

same 

[norah  returns  with  tray  and  the  new  china.] 
I'm  sorry,  Norah,  I  spoke  severely. 

NORAH 

Bless  you,  Miss  Peggy,  I  like  it  when  you  talk  like  that 

— it's  only  natural. 

PEGGY 

No,  it  isn't,  it's  unnatural.     Haven't  you  been  almost 
a  mother  to  me? 

NORAH  [Blubbering] 

Don't,  Miss  Peggy,  or  I'll  be  dropping  my  best  china. 

[Goes  to  table  and  changes  cups.] 
Divil  take  the  "Drys."     I've  been  in  many  God-for- 
saken places,  but  never  one  where  you  had  a  detective 
down  your  throat! 

[Exit  R.] 

NICH.  [Laughingly] 

That's  another  reason  for  not  going  to  Europe — you 

said  you  were  hungering  for  it,  but  people  would  think 

you  were  thirsting. 

16 


PEGGY 

Don't  pretend  to  be  a  Philistine !  You  know  very  well 
that  we  Americans  have  no  romance,  no  art,  no 
music   .    .    . 

NICH. 

I  ought  to  have  known  college  turns  out  Europe-snobs ! 
Parasites  on  her  decaying  civilisation.  I  ought  never 
to  have  let  you  learn  Italian.  You'll  end  with  the  gang 
in  Florence  who  won't  go  home! 

PEGGY 

But  if  America  shocks  them! 

NICH. 

A  shock  is  God's  message  to  set  what  shocks  you  right. 

PEGGY 

You  can't  remedy  rawness. 

NICH. 

More  easily  than  rottenness.  I  wonder  what  your 
idea  of  a  European  city  is.  Naples,  I  suppose,  with 
Vesuvius  in  continuous  performance. 

PEGGY 

No,  daddy,  my  European  city  snuggles  among  snow- 
mountains   that  play  bo-peep   with  you   through   the 
mists.    And  at  their  feet  the  women  sing  strange,  sad 
songs  as  they  strip  the  vines. 
17  B 


NICH. 

What's  the  matter  with  California? 

PEGGY  [Not  listening,  growing  more  and  more  rapt] 
And  you  look  up  in  terror  at  the  giant's  castle  perched 
on  the  crags  and  the  waterfalls  hurling  themselves 
down  upon  you. 

NICH.  [Uneasily] 
How  about  Niagara? 

PEGGY 

But  in  the  thirsty  summer  the  giant  drinks  them  up, 
and  you  see  the  mountain-girls  coming  down  to  the 
wells,  with  their  wooden  water-kegs  strapped  on  their 
backs. 

NICH.  [More  uneasily] 
Eh? 

PEGGY 

Such  enchanting  girls — just  like  those  in  Matthew 
Arnold's  poem,  you  know: 

"The  red-snooded  Phrygian  girls 
Whom  the  summer  evening  sees 
Flashing  in  the  dance's  whirls 
Underneath  the  starlit  trees 
In  the  mountain  villages." 

NICH.  [Relieved] 

Ah,  it's  from  Matthew  Arnold  you  got  it ! 

18 


PEGGY 

I  suppose  so.  It  makes  me  cry  to  feel  it  all  so  fresh 
and  magical.  And  the  white  sails  on  the  lake !  Like 
giant  butterflies  poised  on  the  water.  And  the  steep 
cobbled  streets  with  Madonnas  and  beggars  at  every 
corner.    And  the  sleepy  old  mosques  and  bazaars 

NICH.  [Visibly  startled  again] 

Mosques  and  Madonnas!     Aren't  you  mixing  things 

up? 

PEGGY 

Now  you've  blotted  out  my  dream-city!     And  it  was 

looking  so  beautiful!    .    .    . 

[Drops  on  the  music-stool;  her  fingers  abstractedly 
strike  out  a  strange  barbaric  melody. ] 

NICH.  [Still  more  agitated'] 
What  are  you  playing? 

PEGGY 

Nothing — only  a  bit  of  tune  that  often  comes  into  my 
head — I  must  develop  it  some  day.  .  .  .  Ah,  there's 
my  dream-city  again  with  the  band  playing  it  in  the 
Piazza  !  What  a  motley  sun-splashed  crowd — fezzes, 
broidered  bodices,  gold-braided  uniforms,  gipsy  rags, 
cockades,  turbans,  cassocks,  gaberdines — and  all,  as 
the  music  crashes,  turning  into  one  great  soul  that 
strains  up  to  the  balcony! 

NICH.  [Alarmed] 
What  balcony  ? 

19 


PEGGY 

A  side  of  the  Palace  gives  on  to  the  square — and  one 
great  shout  goes  up  to  it.    Viva  II  Re!    Viva  II  Re! 

NICH.  [Trying  to  laugh  it  off] 
I  told  you  you'd  end  in  Italy! 

PEGGY  [Still  dazedly] 
Is  it  Italy? 

NICH. 

If  your  dream-mob  cheers  its  King  in  Italian. 

PEGGY  [Smiling  at  herself] 

I  suppose  it's  because  there  are  so  few  other  Kings 

left! 

NICH. 

Fortunately.     But  you  mustn't  indulge  in  day-dream- 
ing. 

PEGGY 

But  it's  so  lovely  floating  down  on  the  raft. 

NICH.  [Startled  again] 
The  raft? 

PEGGY 

Seeing  the  old-world  villages  on  the  banks  and 


NICH. 

Don't,  Peggy! 

20 


PEGGY 

One  must  forget  Fifth  Avenue. 

NICH. 

Heavens!      You've    made    me    forget    Mr.    Randel. 

That  coffee  is  for  him. 

PEGGY 

Oliver?   .    .    .    Mr.  Randel,  junior,  do  you  mean? 

NICH. 

Yes,  he's  waiting  for  you — on  the  roof-garden.   Won't 

you  go  up  to  him  ? 

PEGGY 

And  why  can't  he  come  down — for  his  coffee? 

NICH. 

Well,   bring   him   down.      He's   got   such   interesting 
news. 

PEGGY 

The  University?     I'd  already  wired  my  congratula- 
tions.   There's  nothing  else? 

NICH. 

I  fancy  there  is.    A  much  greater  subject  for  congratu- 
lation. 

[Exit  PEGGY  L.,  wondering,  smoothing  her  hair. 

NICHOLAS  rings  agitatedly.     NORAH  appears.] 

21 


NICH. 

You  said  you'd  never  told  Peggy  about  Valdania. 

NORAH  [Indignantly] 

And  have  I  ever  even  told  her  what  her  mother  was 
like?  "Look  in  the  glass"  is  the  most  she's  gotten 
out  of  me. 

NICH. 

But  she's  just  given  me  an  exact  description  of  Sca- 
letta!     And  played  the  National  Anthem! 

NORAH 

You  don't  say!     The  cute  little  memory! 

NICH. 

But  she  wasn't  three. 

NORAH 

I  wasn't  two  when  mammy  gave  dad  a  black  eye,  but 
I  remember  every  word  of  the  conversation.  Says 
dad 

NICH. 

Never  mind  that  now.  I've  sent  her  up  to  Mr.  Ran- 
del,  and  I  hope  she'll  say  "Yes."  The  sooner  Europe 
is  blotted  out  the  better.  And  she'll  go  West  with 
him — still  further  from  Europe.  The  very  husband 
we  need! 

NORAH 

But,  Mr.  Stone ! 

22 


NICH. 

Don't  let  us  fly  in  the  face  of  Providence. 

NORAH 

Providence?     And  him  a  Protestant? 

NICH. 

And  suppose  she's  the  instrument  to  convert  him? 

NORAH 

That's  so.    .    .    .    But  if  she  ain't  stuck  on  him? 

NICH. 

She  calls  him  Oliver! 

NORAH 

If  I  had  married  all  the  men  who  called  me  Norah? 
Did  she  hurry  up  to  him  when  you  said  he  was  here? 

NICH. 

I'm  afraid  not. 

NORAH 

Then  she'll  have  him. 

[Wrings  her  hands.] 
Oh,  acushla!    Acushla! 

NICH. 

Don't.     It's  harder  on  me.    .    .    .    Sh !    They're  com- 
ing down! 

[Motions  her  kitchenwards.] 
23 


NORAH  [Blubbering] 

But  the  children  must  be  brought  up  Catholics ! 

[Exeunt  she  R.,  he  C.  Enter  L.  slowly  and  alone 
OLIVER,  vaguely  looking  for  something.  He  sees 
only  the  Sunday  paper  with  his  picture  and  disgust- 
edly tears  it  in  two.] 

PEGGY  [From  stairs] 
Oliver! 

OLIVER  [Dropping  paper  with  a  joyous  cry] 
Peggy! 

PEGGY  [Appearing  L.,  coldly] 
You  forgot  your  portfolio. 
[Tenders  it.] 

OLIVER   [Frozen] 

Thank  you.    ...    I  was  looking  for  it  down  here. 

PEGGY  [Smiling  tremulously] 

Wouldn't  do  to  go  West  without  your  design. 

OLIVER 

Oh,  hang  my  design ! 
[Hurls.it  away.] 

PEGGY 

I  guess  they'll  hang  all  the  designs. 

OLIVER 

You're  heartless. 
24 


PEGGY 

Oh,  no,  Oliver,  I  do  admire  your  University.  And 
by  the  time  it's  ivy-covered 

OLIVER 

I  shall  be  grass-covered. 

PEGGY 

Laurel-covered,  you  mean.  You  are  going  to  be 
famous.     I  am  so  glad. 

OLIVER 

You  are  spoiling  all  my  success. 

PEGGY 

Exactly  what  I  should  do.  We  shouldn't  get  on  to- 
gether, dear  Oliver. 

OLIVER 

Because  I  haven't  come  back  from  the  war  with  your 
reverence  for  Europe? 

PEGGY 

Because  I  can't  feel  your  reverence  for  America.  I 
can't  sink  into  this  petty  American  domesticity.  Oh, 
Oliver,  can't  you  understand? 

OLIVER 

Of  course  I  understand — it  is  the  artist  in  you.     But 
you   could   go   on   composing — I   should  be   only  too 
proud  of  my  little  singing-bird. 
25 


PEGGY 

It  isn't  only  the  call  of  my  music. 

OLIVER 

What  else,  then? 

PEGGY 

I  don't  know.     Something  strange,  from  afar — like  a 

call  to  service — I  can't  settle  down  so — so  finally. 

OLIVER 

But  I  can  wait — years — if  only  there's  an  outlook — 
not  a  blank  window. 

PEGGY 

That  is  not  fair  to  you.     No,  you  must  go  West  un- 
trammelled. 

OLIVER 

That's  impossible. 

[Picks  up  portfolio.    Huskily'] 
Good-bye  then. 

PEGGY 

Good-bye. 

[Desperately] 
You'll  write  to  me  from  the  University  scaffolding! 

OLIVER  [Eagerly] 

May  I? 

26 


PEGGY 

Of  course. 

[Holds  out  hand.] 
Aren't  you  going  to  shake  hands? 

OLIVER  [Throwing  down  portfolio  to  take  her  hand 

in  both  of  his] 
Oh,  Peggy,  then  you  do  care  a  little ! 

PEGGY 

You  never  asked  me  that.     You  only  wanted  to  ab- 
sorb me. 

OLIVER 

You  darling! 

[Their  lips  meet.] 

PEGGY 

How  wonderful  you  are !    ...    It  almost  seems  as 
if  the  rest  were  irrelevant — even  music. 

OLIVER 

And  I  thought  I  was  happy  when  I  won  the  competi- 
tion ! 

PEGGY 

I  have  never  even  thought  I  was  happy. 

OLIVER 

Never  happy?     You? 

27 


PEGGY 

My  mother  died  when  I  was  a  baby,  and  father  has 
always  been  so  busy  prophesying. 

OLIVER 

My  poor  little  girl!     I  must  make  up  to  her  for 
everything. 

PEGGY 

Yes,  for  everything. 

[She  opens  her  arms  to  him.] 
Oh,  Oliver,  if  I  should  lose  you  now! 

OLIVER 

Why  should  we  lose  each  other?    I  will  speak  to  your 
father  at  once. 

PEGGY 

No,  no!     It  is  all  too  sacred! 

OLIVER 

But,  dearest,  I  leave  New  York  to-morrow. 

PEGGY  [Clinging  to  him] 
So  soon.     Oh ! 

[NICHOLAS    heard    deliberately    humming    in    the 

doorway.] 

OLIVER 

Ah,  here  he  comes! 

[She  retreats.] 
Don't  run  away! 


PEGGY 

I  can't  face  even  daddy — yet.    .    .    .    Besides,  I  must 

change  my  riding-skirt.     A  rivederla,  carissimo. 

[Kisses  her  hands  to  him  and  runs  off  L.      Enter 
NICHOLAS  with  elaborate  unconcern.] 

NICH. 

Well,  young  man.     And  how  far  did  you  get? 

OLIVER  [Surprised] 
Eh? 

[Ecstatically] 
Oh,  sir,  Peggy 

NICH. 

Peggy?     Didn't  you  read  any  of  my  MS.? 

OLIVER   [Embarrassed] 

Oh,  that!     I — you  see  Peggy  came  up  and  we — we 

want  to  marry. 

NICH. 

What! 

OLIVER 

I  hope  you're  not  angry. 

NICH. 

I  can't  say  I'm  delighted  to  be  robbed  of  her. 

OLIVER 

Then  you  consent! 

29 


NICH. 

You  go  as  fast  as  your  aeroplane.    Sit  down,  sit  down, 
young  man,  and  let  us  talk. 

[They  talk.] 
You  realise  that  there  are  great  differences  between 
you. 

OLIVER 

Naturally.     Peggy  is  an  angel. 

NICH. 

That  of  course.     But  I  had  in  mind  such  things  as 
religion 

OLIVER 

After  you've  come  back  from  the  war,  you  don't  take 
much  stock  in  religion — religious  differences,  I  mean. 

NICH.  [Drily] 

Yes,    religion   does   usually   mean  that.      But   there's 

race,  too.     Peggy's  not  American. 

OLIVER 

Gee!  Is  there  any  race  that's  not  American?     But  I 
knew  you  were  English-born.     That's  no  difference. 

NICH. 

But  we're  not  English.     Moreover — I  meant  to  carry 
the  secret  to  my  grave,  but  it  is  borne  in  on  me  as  I 
speak  to  you  that  I  ought  to  tell  you  this  much — Peggy 
is  not  my  daughter. 
30 


OLIVER 

Not  your ?     But  she  calls  you  daddy! 

NICH. 

She  doesn't  know.     And  she  must  never  know. 

OLIVER  [After  a  panse~\ 
I  will  keep  your  secret. 

NICH. 

It  doesn't  mean  that  she  won't  inherit  my  wealth. 

OLIVER 

Oh,  sir,  I'm  not  worrying  about  that. 

NICH. 

You  mean  you  are  worrying  about  her  birth? 

OLIVER 

No,  no.     I  thank  God  she  was  born  at  all.    Why,  even 
if  she  were  nobody's  daughter ! 

NICH. 

Would   she   were!      But   she's   somebody's   daughter. 
That's  the  trouble. 

OLIVER 

Her  father  may  claim  her? 

NICH. 

Not  he — he's  safely  dead.     Still  I  can  only  consent  to 
the  marriage  on  one  condition. 

3i 


OLIVER 
I  accept. 

NICH. 

But  listen !    You  must  take  Peggy  out  West  with  you. 

OLIVER 

What!     To-morrow? 

NICH. 

Of  course  not,  but  as  soon  as  possible. 

OLIVER 

Say,  I  told  you  I  wasn't  kicking.  I  guess  I'd  best  put 
off  my  trip  till  she  can  come  along. 

NICH. 

Good.     And  you  must  always  live  in  America. 

OLIVER  [Disconcerted] 

Oh!   Never  go  to  Europe  you  mean?  But  Peggy ! 

NICH. 

Yes,  I  know.  I've  been  trying  to  explain  to  her  that 
we've  got  to  stay  here  and  make  God's  own  country  a 
fit  place  for  God  to  live  in.  But  it'll  be  all  right  if 
you  keep  away  from  the  Balkan  parts  of  Europe — 
not  that  Europe  isn't  all  Balkans  nowadays,  a  pit  of 
steel-spurred  cocks  each  crowing  on  its  own  little 
dunghill.  God!  to  think  of  all  those  millions  of 
peaceful  citizens  turned  into  murderers  as  quails  in 
32 


Turkestan  are  turned  into  fighting-cocks  by  tobacco 
smoke. 

OLIVER 

You  can't  do  away  with  war. 

NICH. 

So  the  British  once  thought  about  cockfighting.  Henry 
VIII  made  it  a  national  institution  and  cockpits  grew 
almost  as  thick  as  cinemas  to-day.  At  Shrovetide 
school-children  had  to  pay  the  masters  cock-penny  for 
a  cock  to  pit  against  another  school-cock.  But  now  if 
you  want  to  pit  the  main  openly,  you  must  go  to  the 
Philippines. 

OLIVER 

Do  I  gather  Peggy  was  born  in  the  Balkans? 

NICH.   [Hesitating] 

Ahem!  There  or  thereabouts.  A  mongrel  State, 
Arabised  Italian  by  lingo,  with  Catholics,  Greek- 
Orthodox  and  Moslems  always  fighting  one  another  or 
their  neighbours.  In  the  Second  Crusade  they  all 
fought  on  the  Moslem  side  under  the  Sultan  of  Ikon- 
ion,  for  it  wasn't  until  the  Armenians  began  assassinat- 
ing them  that  any  accepted  Christianity.  In  fact  the 
Moslem  are  still  the  most  numerous  element,  though 
the  Christians  combine  to  keep  them  under.  Some 
twenty  years  ago  a  sanguine  Chancellor  arose  who 
tried  to  modernise  his  people.  But  they  murdered  the 
Queen  and  blew  up  the  Chancellery. 
33  c 


OLIVER 

Sounds  worse  than  Mexico. 

NICH. 

A  home  for  incurables.  The  Catholics  ruled  the  roost, 
but  if  ever  the  Orthodox  got  top-dog  they  hanged 
Catholics  and  Jews.  But  the  Catholics  always  got 
their  own  back  and  hanged  Orthodox  and  Jews. 
Sometimes,  of  course,  both  had  to  combine  and  then 
the  lamp-posts  held  Moslems  and  Jews!  The  only 
thing  the  three  religions  had  in  common  except  Jew- 
baiting  was  the  hatred  of  a  neighbour  State,  which  a 
century  ago  had  annexed  a  barren  mountain-province, 
and  their  real  God  was  their  fifth-century  filibuster, 
Alpastroom,  whom  they  all  expected  to  rise  one  day 
from  his  grave  in  Rome  and  win  back  the  lost 
province. 

OLIVER   [Smiling] 
Talk  of  Rip  Van  Winkle  1 

NICH. 

These  lunatics  took  it  seriously;  there's  a  national  pro- 
verb: 

"When  Rome  yields  up  our  royal  seed, 
Bosnavina  to  death  shall  bleed." 

[Starting  up.] 
Oh,  but  I  didn't  mean  to  give  away  names.    I'm  a  for- 
getful old  fool.     And  that  coffee,  too !     Must  be  iced 
by  now.     Never  mind.     Let's  drink  confusion  to  the 
cockpit. 

[Goes  to  table  and  pours  coffee  for  OLIVER.] 

34 


OLIVER 

I'd  rather  drink  to  Peggy's  present  country. 
[Takes  cup.] 

NICH. 

Same  thing. 

[Pours  for  himself.] 
It's  the  Melting  Pot  versus  the  Cockpit. 

[Holds  up  cup.] 
To  America ! 

OLIVER 

To  America ! 

[They  clink  cups.    An  unusually  imperious  rat-tat- 
tat.     They  pause  in  their  drinking.] 

NICH. 

Who  can  that  be? 

[NORAH  appears  door  C.  with  a  frightened  face.] 

NORAH 

It's  soldiers ! 

NICH. 
Soldiers ! 

NORAH 

Two  autos-full.     And  General  Roxo — him  that  used 
to  be  Captain  Roxo. 

NICH.  [Alarmed] 
He  recognised  you? 
35 


NORAH 

No,  I  recognised  him. 

NICH. 

Tell  him  I'm  engaged — I  can  see  nobody. 

OLIVER 

But  I  can  make  myself  scarce. 

NICH. 

Nonsense !     Drink  your  coffee.     Leave  us,  Norah. 

NORAH 

Si,  Signor — Mr.  Stone. 
[Exit  NORAH.] 

NICH.  [Sipping  his  coffee] 

Strange  how  Europe  will  keep  breaking  in! 

OLIVER 

Is  it  that  Valdanian  headliner? 

NICH. 

Yes,  the  fire-eater  our  fool  press  has  been  booming. 
[Re-enter  NORAH.] 

NORAH 

The  General's  Secretary  complains  he  'phoned  you 
and  you  said  you'd  be  home. 

NICH. 

Ah !  I  thought  he  said  general  secretary.  Tell  him  I 
was  cut  off — I'm  sorry  but  I've  business  with  a  friend. 
36 


OLIVER 

But,  Mr.  Stone,  if  I'm  to  cancel  my  journey  to-mor- 
row I  must  get  busy  too.  Let  me  do  my  wiring  while 
you  work  off  your  visitors.  May  I  leave  my  portfolio? 
[Without  waiting  for  a  reply  he  opens  the  door, 
revealing  in  the  hall-way  a  group  of  officers  in 
peaked  caps,  cloaks  and  swords,  headed  by  gen- 
eral roxo,  a  one-armed  veteran,  glittering  under  a 
loose  cloak  with  stars  and  medals,  and  his  secre- 
tary, the  MARQUIS  fiuma,  a  handsome  man  in  the 
thirties,  carrying  a  wallet  of  papers.  OLIVER  bows 
to  them  as  he  passes  and  ROXO  seizes  the  oppor- 
tunity to  advance.] 

ROXO 

Pardon  my  persistence,  Mr.  Stone,  we  had  meant  to 
wait  upon  you  later  in  the  week,  but  in  the  midst  of  an 
official  reception  at  our  legation,  a  cable  reached  me 
necessitating  instant  arrangements  for  returning  to 
Valdania  by  this  afternoon's  boat.  Our  only  chance 
was  to  take  you  on  our  way  back  to  the  hotel.  And  I 
feel  sure  that  as  a  good  patriot 

NICH. 

So  good  a  patriot,  General — er 


ROXO 
Roxo. 

NICH. 

Roxo,  that  you  find  me  toasting  America. 
37 


ROXO 

Ah,  I  thought  from  your  name  you'd  been  naturalised. 

NICH. 

Fifteen  years  ago. 

ROXO  [Advancing'] 

Fifteen  centuries  cannot  extinguish  the  flame   of  the 

fatherland.     Even  Valdanians  born  in  the  States 

NICH.  [Coldly] 

May  I  ask  you  to  come  at  once  to  the  point  of  your 

visit? 

ROXO 

The  Marquis  Fiuma  can  put  it  more  briefly. 

[The  MARQUIS  bows  and  NICHOLAS  bows  back. 
The  suite  drifts  in  behind  the  MARQUIS.  But 
NICHOLAS,  standing  as  on  guard,  does  not  invite 
anybody  to  sit  down.  FIUMA  lays  down  his 
wallet.] 

FIUMA 

As  you  doubtless  know,  Mr.  Stone,  the  death  of  Tito 
the  Fifth  two  years  ago  left  us  without  an  heir  to  the 
throne,  and  Polish  and  Bolshevist  adventurers  prof- 
ited by  the  consequent  anarchy  to  overrun  Valdania. 
Thanks  to  our  heroic  General  Roxo 

[The  general  makes  a  deprecatory  gesture] 
all  were  beaten  off,  and  Valdania  took  advantage  of 
38 


the  war-unity  to  turn  herself  into  a  constitutional 
country,  clipping  the  wings  of  my  class 

[Smiling] 
and  replacing  the   Chancellor  and  the   Council  by  a 
Parliament. 

NICH. 

Really?  I  have  not  followed  your  politics.  Our  pa- 
pers gave  you  no  space  till  his  excellency  arrived.  So, 
General,  you  have  made  Valdania  safe  for  democracy! 

FIUMA 

Not  so  safe  as  money  could  make  it.  We  are  in  woful 
need  of  the  sinews  of  .  .  .  peace.  And  the  Gov- 
ernment naturally  thought  that  a  mission — headed  by 
our  national  hero — to  our  enriched  emigres 

NICH.   [Coldly] 

Yes,  I  know  America  is  the  milch-cow  of  Europe.    But 

why  come  to  me? 

FIUMA 

Seven  years  ago,  we  are  told,  you  subscribed  fifty 
thousand  dollars  to  our  famine  fund. 

NICH. 

Only  what  other  Americans  did.  To  feed  famished 
foreigners  is  one  thing— to  interfere  in  their  politics 
another.     My  blood  is  English. 

[Rings.] 
39 


ROXO 

I  am  sorry.  I  am  very  sorry.  We  thought  you  were 
a  Valdanian.  This  is  truly  an  intrusion.  My  love 
for  Valdania  must  be  my  excuse.    .    .    . 

[To   NORAii,   who   has   answered  the  ring,  from 

door  C,  where  she  has  been  waiting] 
Haven't  I  seen  your  face  before? 

NORAH 

Sure,  you  haven't  seen  it  behind. 

ROXO 

Come,  amici,  we  shall  have  a  little  longer  for  packing. 
God  keep  you,  sir. 

NICH. 

Thank  you!     A  pleasant  journey! 

[With  a  sudden  impulse] 
But  why  should  I  stoop  to  mislead  you?     Only  my 
mother  was  English,  my  father  was  a  Valdanian. 

ROXO  and  SUITE 
Ah! 

[They  turn  back.] 

NICH. 

But  my  interest  in  Valdania  has  long  been  submerged 
in  a  bigger  ideal. 

ROXO 

There  is  nothing  bigger  than  Valdania. 
40 


FIUMA  and  SUITE 
Bravo ! 

ROXO 

And  she  will  not  be  denied,  you  see,  my  brother. 

NICH. 

She  must  be  denied,  she  shall  be  denied.  I  am  less 
brother  to  you  than  to  the  young  American  who  has 
just  left  me.  What  is  this  mysterious  tyranny  of  race, 
and  birth?  It  is  true  I  am  a  son  of  Valdania.  But  I 
have  left  her  behind  me  as  a  barbarian  camp. 

FIUMA  [Half  drawing  sword] 
Signorf 

NICH. 

You   came   for   dollars,   you   shall  have  truths.      My 
mother's    English  property   has   enabled  me   to   help 
many  causes.     But  for  Valdania  not  a  cent. 
[Angry  murmurs.'] 

ROXO 

You  would  forsake  your  own  flesh  and  blood! 

NICH. 

You  speak  of  my  flesh  and  blood,  I  speak  of  my  soul. 
In  the  Middle  Ages  every  human  soul  was  considered 
so  important  that  God  and  Devil  were  at  wrestle  for 
it.  To-day  we  are  treated  as  mere  dogs  of  a  pack. 
But  I  am  man,  not  animal,  and  I  assert  my  spiritual 
freedom. 

4i 


FIUMA 

And  are  you  not  free  to  help  Valdania? 

NICH. 

Ah,  if  you  had  come  to  me  with  a  petition.  But  you 
come  with  a  claim,  a  demand.  Valdania  is  no  more 
to  me  than  the  rest  of  the  cockpit  you  call  Europe. 
Does  she  need  food?     I  will  help  her  again. 

ROXO 

Thank  you — the  hand  I  lost  for  my  country  is  not  held 
out  for  alms.  Valdania  calls  on  her  sons  to  safeguard 
her  renaissance.  The  Moslem  extremists,  unconcili- 
ated  by  the  Constitution,  still  demand  dominance,  and 
under  their  rebel  Mahdi,  Marrobio 

NICH. 

Ah,  then  it  is  not  all  such  plain  sailing.  And  I  don't 
suppose  even  your  Catholics  and  Greek-Orthodox 
have  quite  buried  the  hatchet.  And  you  come  to  ask 
America  to  finance  your  petty  wrangles! 

ROXO 

No,  to  end  them  by  strengthening  the  new  Govern- 
ment. Otherwise  Bosnavina,  to  say  nothing  of  Italy 
or  Greece,  may  seize  the  opportunity  to  absorb  us. 
Had  there  been  an  heir  to  the  throne,  the  whole  peo- 
ple, weary  of  slaughter,  would  have  rallied  round  the 
crown.    But  alas !  with  every  scion  of  our  royal  house 

scrupulously  assassinated 

42 


NICH. 

And  it  is  into  this  welter  of  blood  you  ask  me  to  dip 
my  hands !  No,  General,  better  for  humanity  if  Italy 
or  Greece  does  swallow  you  up — or  even  Bosnavina ! 

ROXO 

Signor  Stone! 

FIUMA 

Traitor ! 

SUITE 

Tradittore! 

[The  swords  of  the  suite  flash  out.] 

NICH. 

I  am  an  American — and  if  you  wish  to  get  home  un- 
electrocuted 

ROXO 

Put  up  your  swords,  Signori.  Remember  this  man's 
blood  is  not  wholly  Valdanian. 

FIUMA 

God  be  thanked. 

[He  and  the  others  sheathe  their  swords.] 

ROXO 

Ay,  and  may  He  forgive  you,  Signor,  the  wrong  you 
do  your  father's  memory.  Why,  when  Poland  men- 
aced our  freedom,  your  docks  here  in  New  York  were 
blocked  by  Valdanians  struggling  to  board  the  boats 
43 


and  die  for  the  fatherland.  Thousands  were  pros- 
perous— they  had  wives  and  families — but  little  Val- 
dania  called,  and  her  sons  answered  "Here!" 

NICH. 

As  I  answer — "Here!"  Here  is  my  duty — to 
America.  To  help  Valdania  would  be  to  roll  the 
world  backward. 

ROXO 

A  pretty  excuse  for  disloyalty  and  meanness.  Come, 
amici.  Ah,  Signor  Stone,  in  our  little  Valdanian  hos- 
pital in  Brooklyn,  a  paralysed  old  pauper  of  eighty, 
when  he  heard  who  I  was,  sat  up,  and  crying  "Viva 
Valdania,"  lifted  his  poor  withered  hand  that  I  might 
pull  off  his  silver  ring — his  one  little  treasure — for  the 
holy  cause.  You  may  imagine  if  I  kissed  him  on  both 
cheeks  and  if  we  wept  together.  Addio,  Signor.  You 
set  me  pining  more  than  ever  for  the  Piazza  da  Pietra. 

NICH. 

The  Piazza  da  Pietra? 

ROXO 

Ah,  I  suppose  you  knew  it  as  the  Piazza  Grande.  But 
we  have  re-named  it  in  honour  of  our  great  murdered 
Chancellor. 

NICH. 

In  honour  of — ha !  ha !  ha !  ha !  ha ! 
44 


ROXO 

Signor !  I  will  not  hear  our  immortal  martyr  laughed 
at. 

NICH. 

Like  Figaro,  I  hasten  to  laugh  lest  I  should  weep. 
Ah,  General,  if  only  you  had  thought  me  such  a  great 
Chancellor  when  I  was  alive! 

ROXO 
Eh? 

NICH. 

I  am  the  immortal  Da  Pietra. 
[Sensation.] 

ROXO 

You  Niccolo  da  Pietra!     The  jest  is  ill-timed. 

NICH. 

It  would  be,  if  you  hadn't  to  catch  your  boat.  Good- 
bye! 

ROXO 

Is  it  possible? 

NICH. 

Pietra  only  means  Stone ! 

ROXO 

Then  you  were  not  blown  to  pieces  and  burnt  with 
the  Chancellery? 

45 


NICH. 

To  the  best  of  my  belief. 

ROXO 

But — but  I  attended  your  funeral  service. 

NICH. 

I  read  of  it  with  pleasure. 

ROXO 

Then — then  you  sneaked  off  to  America,  you !  leaving 
us  to  struggle  alone  these  twenty  years ! 

NICH. 

And  had  I  not  reason?  As  I  told  you  just  now,  I 
have  not  followed  your  struggles — I  had  wider  hori- 
zons. But  when  /  struggled  to  give  Valdania  the  Con- 
stitution you  now  say  has  been  achieved,  did  you  not 
fight  against  me  as  desperately,  if  not  as  dishonestly 
as  the  Cazotti  journal? 

ROXO 

I   thought  you  meant  to   question   the   King's  divine 
right. 

NICH. 

Tito  himself  understood  me  better.    Despite  his  abom- 
inable cruelty  to  the  young  Queen,  he  had  the  intelli- 
gence to  perceive  that  if  our  internal  chaos  continued, 
Bosnavina  would  bite  off  another  province. 
46 


ROXO 

It  is  what  I  have  since  learned  to  understand. 

NICH. 

Ha !  By  granting  equal  rights  even  to  the  Moslem,  I 
aimed  to  create  a  common  Valdanian  citizenship.  By- 
safeguarding  the  Jews,  I  encouraged  the  upbuilding  of 
our  industries.  I  won  over  King  Tito  to  constitution- 
alism. The  country  began  to  take  its  place  in  the  new 
Europe.  You  know  my  reward.  I  could  have  for- 
given the  reactionaries  their  attempt  to  murder  me. 
But  that  they  should  have  murdered  the  young 
Queen ! 

ROXO 

They  said  it  was  through  her  that  you  had  won  over 
the  King. 

NICH. 

Yes,  I  know,  and  that  I  was  her  lover. 

ROXO 

Were  you  not? 

NICH. 

The  Queen  was  as  pure  as  our  mountain-snows.  I 
had  an  immense  pity  for  her  in  her  cold,  high  loneli- 
ness. Poor  Margherita !  If  ever  sovereign  wore  a 
crown  of  thorns 

ROXO 

Then  why  did  you  not  remain  to  revenge  her? 
47 


NICH. 

Revenge?  The  righteousness  of  fools.  The  eternal 
whirligig  of  blood.  No,  I  preferred  to  shed  only  ink. 
— to  return  to  my  early  love,  literature. 
[Goes  to  desk,  takes  cheque-book.] 
But  I  have  liberated  my  mind  at  the  expense  of  your 
precious  time.  You  shall  have  a  cheque,  after  all.  It 
was  worth  it. 

ROXO 

No,  Da  Pietra.  .  .  .  Not  your  money  now.  It  is 
you  we  want. 

NICH. 
Me? 

ROXO 

Come  back  with  us ! 

[Excited  murmurs  of  approval  among  the  SUITE.] 

NICH. 

Back?    With  the  sentiments  you  have  just  heard? 

ROXO 

Your  head  spoke  but  not  your  heart.  What  is  Amer- 
ica to  you  or  you  to  America?  It  is  a  childish  people, 
with  its  mouth  always  full  of  candies  and  sweet  senti- 
ments. Come,  Niccolo  da  Pietra.  We  will  build  up 
the  great  Valdania  of  your  early  dream.    Sail  with  us ! 

FIUMA  and  SUITE 

Bravo! 

48 


ROXO 

You  see!     The  news  will  spread  like  wild-fire.     It 

will  be  a  trumpet-call. 

NICH. 

General  Roxo,  the  trumpet  of  Resurrection  Day  could 

not  blow  me  back  to  Valdania  ! 

ROXO 

Then  you  will  let  Cazotti  rule? 

NICH. 

Cazotti? 

ROXO 

You  did  not  know  Cazotti  was  Prime  Minister? 

NICH. 

Cazotti  ?    Not  the  blackguardly  journalist  who  fought 
against  all  my  reforms? 

ROXO 

The  same.     He  has  now  carried  them  all. 

NICH. 

But  it  was  his  journal  that  provoked  my  assassination! 

ROXO 

I  shouldn't  be  surprised  if  he  threw  the  bombs. 

FIUMA 

You  are  imprudent,  my  General.     Cazotti  has  his  spies 

everywhere.     Forget  this,  Signori. 

49  d 


NICH. 

I  can  believe  anything  of  Cazotti.  And  you  Catholics 
work  under  this  upstart  Greek  Church  adventurer! 

ROXO 

For  Valdania's  sake. 

FIUMA 

He  is  indispensable.  With  his  own  newspapers,  his 
own  cinemas,  with  a  millionaire  Jew,  Baron  Gripstein, 
to  back  him,  with  the  bulk  of  the  Moslems  won  over 
by  equal  suffrage,  with  his  own  Greek  Church  party 
solidly  behind  him,  we  Catholics  had  only  the  choice 
of  joining  his  coalition  or  being  swamped. 

ROXO 

But  the  Premiership  is  not  enough  for  him.  What  he 
covets  is  the  crown. 

NICH. 

Nonsense!     A  pretty  Napoleon! 

ROXO 

There  is  no  nonsense  about  it.  It  is  the  cable  warn- 
ing me  of  it  that  drives  me  home.  Since  King  Tito's 
death  we  have  made  shift  with  a  Regent. 

NICH. 

Who? 

ROXO 

The  Duke  D'Azollo. 

50 


NICH. 

That  profligate  dilettante,  divided  between  his  Old 
Masters  and  his  young  mistresses? 

ROXO 

Precisely.     A  mere  warming-pan  for  Cazotti.     You 

see,  to  get  a  suitable  Prince  is  not  easy. 

NICH.  [Smiling  grimly] 

No,  indeed,  with  the  German  factory  under  a  ban ! 

ROXO 

And  if  we  took  a  Prince  from  a  neighbour  State,  we 
should  come  hopelessly  under  its  influence.  As  for  the 
northern  powers,  none  sees  any  prestige  in  association 
with  our  bankrupt  finances,  and  the  few  possible 
Princes  shrink  from  repeating  the  fate  of  the  Queen. 

NICH. 

I  don't  wonder. 

ROXO 

Moreover,  by  the  Constitution  our  sovereign  must  be 

Catholic — we  are  still  the  ruling  sect,  you  see. 

NICH. 

Then  that  rules  out  Cazotti! 

ROXO 

No,  alas!    Cazotti  will  'vert! 
5i 


NICH. 

Ha!     Ha!     Ha! 

ROXO 

It  is  no  laughing  matter.  In  the  difficulty  of  finding  a 
Prince,  Cazotti's  papers  and  cinemas  will  propose  and 
picture  Cazotti,  then  Parliament  will  offer  him  the 
crown.  Twice  he  will  refuse,  but  the  third  time — ah, 
Niccolo  da  Pietra,  if  only  in  the  assassination  of  the 
Queen,  the  infant  had  been  spared!  There  would 
have  been  to-day  a  native  sovereign  for  the  nation 
to  rally  round 

NICH.   \JVith  sudden  harshness] 
Let   Cazotti  be   rallied   round   and   murdered!      I'm 
afraid  I  mustn't  keep  you  any  longer. 
[Holds  out  hands.] 

ROXO  [Not  taking  it] 

Then  you  persist  in  your  living  death! 

FIUMA 

You  will  let  Cazotti  king  it — the  jackal  roaring  while 
the  lion  blinks! 

NICH.  [Using  his  rejected  hand  to  pick  up  fiuma's 

wallet] 
Your  papers! 

ROXO 

Come,  Signori.     Valdania  shall  hear  of  this  recreant 

Yankee — his  name  shall  stink  in  history. 

52 


NICH. 

It  will  be  better  policy,  General,  to  keep  it  in  good 
odour. 

ROXO   [  Turning] 

No !     By  the  tombs  of  our  fathers  which  you  have 

deserted 

NICH. 

But  I  haven't — I'm  lying  in  one  of  them.  Bombed, 
incinerated,  pedestalled  on  your  Piazza,  I'm  a  bigger 
national  asset  to  you  dead  than  alive.  Think  it  over 
on  the  boat. 

[Enter    PEGGY    unmarked    L.,    in    her    changed 

toilette. ,] 

ROXO  [Drawing  sword  with  his  left  hand] 
And  if  I  ensured  our  national  asset ! 


PEGGY  [Alarmed] 

Daddy! 

[All  turn  towards  the  new-comer.  Roxo's  sword 
droops  and  slides  into  its  scabbard,  then  his  body 
droops,  and  he  falls  on  one  knee,  as  if  hypnotised.] 

ROXO  [In  a  dazed,  awed  whisper] 
The  Queen! 

NICH. 

Are  you  mad,  General? 
53 


KOXO  [Unheeding] 
She  alive,  too ! 

[With  a  sob] 
O  God  of  Valdania! 

NICH. 

But  this  is  my  daughter!      My  daughter,  Peggy! 

ROXO    [Rising  slowly,  passing  his  hand  across   his 

forehead] 
Your  daughter?     And  yet  you  say  you  were  not  the 
Queen's   .    .    .  ? 

NICH. 

Silence!  Not  before  the  child.  Go  back  to  your 
room,  Peggy.  These  men  are  crazy  specimens  from 
the  cockpit  you  hanker  after.     Why  don't  you  go? 

PEGGY 

Ah! 

[Rushes  to  the  telephone.] 

ROXO 

Yes,  ring  up  the  police!  And  they  shall  arrest  the 
gentleman  you  call  father  as  a  kidnapper. 

NICH. 

What  are  you  talking  about? 

ROXO 

None  of  your  innocence.     I  see  it  all  now,  Fiuma. 

54 


The  little  Princess  was  no  more  blown  up  than  he 
was.  He  took  advantage  of  the  wreck  of  the  Palace 
to  steal  the  nation's  hope. 

FIUMA  and  SUITE 

Traitor!     Tradittore! 

ROXO 

But  the  God  of  Valdania  has  not  forgotten  us.  He 
has  saved  our  royal  seed  for  this  fateful  hour.  It  is 
our  Queen,  amid,  our  dear  Margherita ! 

FIUMA   AND    SUITE    [Saluting    her   with    flashing 

swords] 
Viva  la  Regina!     Viva  Margherita! 

[PEGGY  stands  dazed,  looking  from  them  to  her 

father.] 

ROXO 

Ah,  Your  Majesty,  this  is  a  great  day  for  Valdania! 

PEGGY 

Valdania!     Where  exaetly  is  Valdania? 

NICH. 

Valdania,  my  child,  is  the  very  heart  of  the  cockpit  I 
rescued  you  from,  and  to  which  these  race-bigots 
would  drag  you  back. 

PEGGY 

By  what  right? 

55 


ROXO 

By  divine  right,  Madam.     Are  you  not  our  Queen? 

PEGGY 

I  their  Queen,  daddy? 

NICH. 

In  a  way,  I  suppose. 

PEGGY 

A  Queen?     I? 

NICH. 

Alas! 

PEGGY 

I  don't  understand. 

NICH. 

You  are  the  last  scion  of  the  royal  house  of  Valdania. 

PEGGY 

But  then,  daddy,  you  must  be  King,  not  I  Queen. 

NICH. 

No,  Peggy.     I  love  you — I  have  watched  over  you — « 
as  a  father.     But  that  is  all  my  claim 

PEGGY 

You  are  not  my  father?  Oh,  this  is  some  dream    .    .    . 
56 


But  here   is  my  music.    .    .    .    Here   are  the  cups  I 
scolded  Norah  about   .    .    .   here  is  Oliver's  portfolio 


ROXO 

It  is  no  dream,  Your  Majesty.  .  .  .  To  revenge 
himself  on  Valdania,  this  man  has  stolen  and  hidden 
you    .    .    . 

NICH. 

My  child  will  not  believe  that. 

PEGGY  [Fretfully] 

But  what  am  I  to  believe,  daddy?    Why  did ? 


NICH. 

I  will  explain  to  you,   carissima,  when  these  gentle- 
men are  gone. 

ROXO 

Gone?      Do   you    suppose   we   will    go    without   our 
Queen? 

NICH. 

Since  you  have  gone  without  her  so  long! 

FIUMA 

Be  serious,  Signor.    We  demand  our  Queen,  and  this 
very  instant. 

NICH. 

I  am  sorry.     She  remains  here — under  the  American 
flag. 

57 


ROXO 

She  goes  with  us — under  the  Valdanian  flag. 

NICH. 

But  I  am  naturalised. 

ROXO 

What  of  it?     She  is  not  your  daughter. 

NICH.  [Staggering] 

My  God!    .    .    .   All  the  same  she  is  no  criminal. 

FIUMA 

Criminal?     Her  Majesty? 

NICH. 

Then  you  cannot  extradite  her. 

ALL  THE  OTHERS  [Taken  aback] 
Ah! 

NICH.   [Pursuing  his  advantage] 

And  she  is  of  age,  thank  God.     You  can't  take  her 

against  her  will. 

ROXO 

And  do  you  suppose  you  could  keep  her  against  ours? 
That  any  place  on  earth  could  be  safe  from  our  loyal 
devotion?  Happily,  we  know  her  royal  will.  Our 
sovereigns  have  never  yet  abandoned  their  people. 
And  never  did  Valdania  need  a  sovereign  so  urgently. 
58 


PEGGY 

The  country  needs  me,  you  say? 

ROXO 

As  it  needs  rain  in  drought  and  sun  in  winter.     You 

alone  can  give  it  unity  and  happiness. 

PEGGY 

Is  it  so  wretched,  then? 

ROXO 

Madam,  it  is  a  beautiful  country — our  snow-peaks,  our 

vineyards 

PEGGY 

Ah,  and  the  blue  lake !    Oh,  daddy,  and  you  pretended 
it  was  all  my  fancy.    .    .    .    But  it  is  a  Paradise. 

ROXO 

Disunity  has  made  it  an  Inferno.     But  when  Your 
Majesty  comes  back ! 

NICH. 

Into  that  lunatic  asylum?    Never! 

PEGGY 

But,  daddy,  if  the  patients  need  my ? 

NICH. 

You  do  not  understand 

59 


ROXO 

Silence,  Signor  da  Pietra!  How  dare  you  interrupt 
Her  Majesty? 

FIUMA  [Raising  sword] 
Insolente! 

PEGGY  [Pitifully] 

Signor  da  Pietra  ?  Are  you  not  even  Nicholas  Stone  ? 
Oh,  why  are  you  so  wrapped  up  in  mysteries?  Why 
all  this  falsehood? 

NICH. 

I  could  bite  my  tongue  out  for  telling  the  truth.  What 
devil  drove  you  here,  Roxo,  to  tempt  me  into  it? 

PEGGY 

But  what  is  the  truth?     Who  are  you?   .    .    .   Why 

don't  you  explain? 

NICH. 

If,  after  all  these  years,  Peggy,  you  cannot  trust 
me ! 

PEGGY 

How  can  I  trust  you  when  you  have  torn  me  blind- 
folded from  my  own  world — when  you  have  let  grow 
up  in  me — ah,  but  I  knew  inwardly  I  was  called  away 
from  happiness! 

[Covers  her  eyes.] 
60 


NICH. 

God!  Why  is  life  so  complex?  Believe  me,  carissima, 
I  meant  it  all  for  the  best. 

PEGGY 

But  you  took  me  from  my  country,  my  people,  my 
duty! 

ROXO 

And  your  throne,  Madam. 

PEGGY   [Ignoring  him] 

And  my  mother !  How  often  I  asked  you  about  her, 
but  you  turned  the  question  aside,  so  that  I  feared  to 
ask  it,  I  grew  afraid  she  was  a  bad  woman,  of  whom 
not  even  Norah  would  speak.  And  the  gentle  voice  I 
remembered,  the  soft  wet  cheek  pressed  to  mine,  they 
were  the  Madonna's,  I  thought,  pitying  the  lonely 
little  girl.  Ah,  how  often  I  cried  in  the  night.  All 
the  other  girls  had  mothers — and  I — even  the  memory 
of  one  was  denied. 
[Sobs.] 

NICH. 

Oh,  Peggy;  if  only  I  had  realised!  But  I  suppose  a 
man  can't.  .  .  .  Don't  cry,  carissima.  Your  mother 
was  a  Madonna.  And  in  the  land  you  remember  as  a 
Paradise,  they  murdered  her. 

PEGGY 

Oh,  my  poor  mother !     My  poor  mother ! 
61 


NICH. 

You  see  how  knowledge  hurts.  I  saved  you  that  suf- 
fering at  least. 

PEGGY 

Ah  no!     This  is  a  beautiful  suffering. 

[Comes  closer.] 
Oh,  daddy,  and  it  was  to  save  me  you  took  me  away? 

NICH. 

Ah,  you  have  understood!  I  knew  you  would!  It 
was  Norah  that  brought  you  to  me  by  the  subway  to 
the  Chancellery — when  the  left  wing  of  the  Palace 
blew  up.  There  was  a  fashion  for  English-speaking 
nurses,  and  Norah  had  been  chosen  as  a  Catholic.  I 
was  Chancellor  then,  and  I  felt  my  house  was  no 
safe  place  for  you;  but  I  had  hardly  gone  out  with 
you  and  Norah  when  the  Chancellery  blew  up  too, 
with  all  the  witnesses  of  your  visit.  It  was  really  you 
that  saved  me,  rather  than  the  reverse. 

PEGGY 

I'm  so  glad,  daddy.    I'm  so  glad. 

NICH. 

For  days,  while  the  reactionaries  held  Scaletta,  we 
lay  hid  in  a  mountain  cave,  you  and  I,  while  Norah, 
being  unknown  to  the  crowd,  went  foraging  for  us 
— fortunately  there  was  plenty  of  money  in  my  pocket, 

and  she  being  so  pretty 

62 


PEGGY 

Norah  pretty? 

NICH. 

Ah,  it  was  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  Anyhow  she 
managed  everybody  and  everything,  even  got  passages 
first  in  a  gipsy-caravan,  then  on  a  timber-raft 

PEGGY 

Ah,  the  raft! 

NICH. 

We  drifted  with  the  timber-men  to  Bosnavina,  thence 
got  by  way  of  Rolmenia  to  Genoa,  where,  finding  an 
emigrant  ship,  I  thought  it  simplest  to  wait  in  New 
York  till  Valdania  settled  down.  Travelling  as  Mr. 
Stone,  the  English  widower,  with  his  orphaned  daugh- 
ter and  her  Irish  nurse 

ROXO 

I  thought  I  recognised  her. 

PEGGY  [Stamping  her  foot] 
You  are  not  to  interrupt — nobody  must  interrupt. 
[ROXO  withers.] 

NICH. 

When  I  got  on  board  I  was  breathing  fire  and  revenge 
— oh,  my  sentiments  would  have  delighted  General 
Roxo.      I   meant  to   come  back,   to  counterplot — but 

that  fortnight  on  the  Atlantic 

63 


ROXO  [Exhibiting  a  wrist-watch] 

We  shall  lose  the  boat — I  beg  Your  Majesty's  pardon! 

NICH. 

But  that  fortnight  on  the  Atlantic — the  first  breathing- 
space  in  my  political  career — the  nights  on  the  lonely 
sea  under  the  silent  stars — oh,  it  was  like  a  religious 
revelation!  Why  go  back — why  drag  you  back  to 
that  cockpit  of  races  and  religions ? 

PEGGY 

Yes,  daddy,  yes. 

[She  holds  out  her  hands  to  him.] 

NICH.  [Taking  them] 

You  see,  General,  she  chooses  Columbia. 

ROXO  [Solemnly] 

Her  Majesty  has  no  choice — she  is  chosen. 

PEGGY 
By  whom? 

ROXO 

By  God.  Madam,  if  this  man  has  left  you  a  Cath- 
olic  

NICH.  [Hotly] 

Do  you  suppose  I  would  turn  her  from  her  mother's 

religion? 

64 


ROXO 

And  do  you  suppose  her  mother  would  have  had  her 

abandon  her  duty? 

[peggy   winces.     Her   hands   drop  from   NICHO- 
LAS'S.] 

NICH. 

Duty  to  what?  To  a  hornets'  nest,  to  a  den  of  cocka- 
trices, to  a  Kingdom  where  she  must  cross  the  ambi- 
tions of  a  desperado,  who  combines  the  modern  demo- 
crat with  the  mediaeval  condottiere? 

PEGGY 

Is  it  the  danger,  daddy,  that  you  fear  for  me? 

NICH. 

Not  merely  the  danger.  But  they  are  deceiving  you 
— you  can  bring  the  country  no  peace — the  country 
will  only  rob  you  of  yours — you  will  have  terrible 
shocks. 

PEGGY 

Didn't  you  say  a  shock  is  God's  way  of  telling  us  to 
put  our  country  straight? 

NICH. 

But  you  can't  straighten  a  shambles.     Shall  you  be 

murdered  too? 

PEGGY 

If  it  is  God's  will !     Have  I  the  right  to  shrink 

from  the  task? 

65  e 


ROXO 

The  royal  blood  has  spoken. 

FIUMA  and  SUITE 
Brava!   Bravissima! 

NICH. 

You  would  leave  me,  Peggy? 

PEGGY 

Of  course  not,  we  will  go  together. 

NICH. 

Impossible !  You  don't  understand  the  etiquette  of  a 
Court.  It  would  no  longer  be  the  old  relation.  I 
couldn't  sit  without  your  command,  or  dine  side  by  side 
with  you.  I  should  have  to  bow  and  smirk,  call  you 
Majesty,  never  contradict  you 

PEGGY 

Oh,  no ! 

NICH. 

Oh,  yes! 

[Growls  from  FIUMA  and  the  SUITE.] 
You  hear!     But  it  must  not  be,   Peggy.     You  have 
wealth,  beauty,  youth — a  brave  young  lover. 

[ PEGGY  zvinces  again.] 
What  more  can  you  ask  of  God? 

PEGGY  [Slowly,  struggling  with  herself] 

Is  it  not  what  God  asks  of  us? 

66 


NICH. 

0  spare  her,  General,  for  her  mother's  sake !  Have 
pity. 

ROXO 

There  is  no  place  for  pity  in  high  politics.  But  why 
speak  of  pity?  She  will  have  the  throne,  the  homage 
of  millions.     The  eyes  of  Europe  will  be 

NICH. 

But  she  is  so  young.     Ah,  let  me  go  in  her  stead. 

ROXO 

You?     Nicholas  the  First!     Ha!     Ha!     Ha! 

NICH. 

You  know  what  I  mean — I  can  crush  Cazotti,  con- 
ciliate Marrobio,  unify  Valdania.  It  is  what  you  just 
asked. 

ROXO 

1  did  not  know  then  we  had  a  bigger  card  to  play — 
the  Queen.     We  can't  accept  a  substitute. 

NICH. 

Then  I  must  go  with  her? 

ROXO 

And  lessen  her  prestige?     No,  no,  we  can  afford  no 
rival  sensation.     Her  Majesty  must  arrive  alone. 
67 


PEGGY  [Pitifully] 
Alone? 

NICH. 

Alone?     Do  you  suppose  I  would  let  her  go  without 
me? 

ROXO 

Where  would  you  get  a  passport  from? 

NICH. 

From  Washington,  of  course. 

ROXO 

And  do  you  suppose  our  Consul  would  viser  it? 

PEGGY 

/  will  viser  it. 

ROXO   [Bowing] 

Your  Majesty's  prerogatives  do  not  override  the  law 

of  Valdania — and  that  forbids  entry  to  criminal  aliens. 

NICH. 

Criminal  alien?     I? 

ROXO 

And  is  a  kidnapper  not  a  criminal,  or  an  American 

not  an  alien? 

NICH. 

I  will  appeal  to  the  American  Government. 
68 


ROXO 

You?     Who   are   naturalized  under   a   false   name? 
Ha!  Ra!  Ha!    .    .    .Madam! 

[Bows] 
Excuse  my  left  arm. 

PEGGY  [Not  taking  it] 

I  can't  go  without  my — without  Signor  da  Pietra. 

ROXO 

Your  Majesty  heard  the  State  reason  that  makes  his 
resurrection  impossible 

FIUMA  [Catching  Peggy's  shrinking  eye] 
For  the  moment  at  least. 

PEGGY  [Relieved,  with  a  grateful  look  to  fiuma] 
Ah,  for  the  moment. 

NICH. 

You  expect  me  to  surrender  a  girl  to  a  band  of  sol- 
diery? 

ROXO 

Is  a  strange  man's  house  a  proper  place  for  her? 

[NICHOLAS  winces.] 
My  wife,  Your  Majesty,  is  waiting  in  a  car  below. 
You  shall  appoint  her  Dame  of  Honour.  It  will  be 
the  first  expression  of  your  royal  will.  Ah,  Signor  da 
Pietra,  you  know  the  game  is  up.  You  know  you  can- 
not keep  a  Sovereign  from  her  State !     Madam ! 

[Offers  arm  again.] 
69 


PEGGY  [Pitifully] 

I — I  must  decide  at  once? 

ROXO  [Extending  his  wrist-watch] 
Boats  do  not  wait. 

PEGGY  [Wildly] 

But  my  trunks — my  manuscripts ! 

ROXO 

Can  come  by  the  next  boat — with  Signorina  Salvador. 

[Turning  to  one  of  the  suite.] 
Captain   Salvador,   your   sister  must   remain   behind. 
We  shall  need  her  cabin  and  passport. 
[The  captain  bows.] 

She  will  provide  the  little  Your  Majesty  will  need  for 
the  voyage — for,  of  course,  you  must  remain  in  your 
cabin. 

PEGGY  [Dazedly] 

But — but — I  have  no  Court  gowns. 

ROXO 

I  will  cable  the  Duchess  D'Azollo  to  meet  us  in  Paris. 
She  will  make  an  excellent  Mistress  of  the  Robes. 

PEGGY 

But  it  is  all  so  sudden. 

ROXO 

History  is  sudden.     Suppose  Cazotti  proclaims  him- 
self King?    What  a  work  to  undo  it! 
70 


PEGGY 

But  Teresa — my  friends — I  must  say  good-bye 

ROXO 

No,  no,  they  would  spread  the  news  before  we've 
settled  our  story. 

PEGGY 

Settled  your  story? 

ROXO 

We  can't  expose  your  kidnapper — un-name  his  Piazza. 
Besides  Cazotti  would  proclaim  himself  immediately. 
Not  a  whisper,  Signori,  till  we  are  safe  in  Scaletta. 
Come,  Madam ! 

[peggy  makes  a  hesitant  movement  doorward.    A 

rat-tat  is  heard  at  the  street  door.] 

NICH. 

Ah,  Oliver  at  last,  thank  God ! 

PEGGY  [Frenziedly] 

No,  no !    I  dare  not  see  him — don't  let  him  come ! 

NICH. 

But  you  must  see  him!     You  shall  I 

PEGGY 

Do  you  wish  me  to  hate  you?    Haven't  you  made  me 

suffer  enough? 

7i 


[Wincing,  NICHOLAS  goes  silently  to  door  C.  and 
opens  it,  holding  the  handle  and  speaking  into  the 
hall-way.] 

NICH. 

Tell  him  that  my  visitors  are  still  here,  that  I  shall 
expect  him  to  dinner. 

NORAH 

Si,  Signor. 

[He  lets  the  door  clos£.  There  is  a  tense  moment 
in  which  the  street  door  is  heard  opening,  and  then 
a  muttered  dialogue.  Then  the  door  C.  opens  and 
NORAh's  head  is  thrust  in.] 

He  wants  his  portfolio. 

[PEGGY  rushes  to  get  it,  clasps  it  to  her  breast,  then 
slowly  parts  with  it  to  NORAH,  behind  whom  the 
door  closes.  Another  tense  silence  till  the  bang  of 
the  street-door  is  heard.] 

PEGGY  [Frenziedly] 

But  you'll  explain  to  him,  daddy — you'll  tell  him  that 

there  are  greater  things  than  happiness. 

NICH.  [Icily] 

I  will  represent  to  him  Your  Majesty's  point  of  view. 

PEGGY  [Breaking  down] 

Oh,  daddy.     Don't  talk  to  me  like  that ! 

NICH. 

Carissima! 

72 


[She  falls  into  his  arms  and  clings  to  him  wildly. 
roxo  and  his  suite  stand  in  silent  dismay,  roxo 
frantically  shows  his  wrist-watch  to  FIUMA.  With  a 
sudden  inspiration  the  marquis  dashes  to  the  piano 
and  starts  the  wild,  barbaric  national  anthem, 
which  PEGGY  unconsciously  played  earlier.  ROXO 
and  his  SUITE  stand  at  the  salute.  As  the  first  notes 
break  out  a  strange  thrill  passes  visibly  through  the 
girl,  even  Da  Pietra  trembles,  and  as  it  goes  on, 
she  gradually  and  unconsciously  detaches  herself 
from  him,  and  listens  spellbound.  As  it  reaches  its 
close,  the  V aldanians  take  up  the  words  in  fiery 
emotion.] 

Dio  di  Valdania, 

Salva  la  patria, 

Serva  la  gloria 

Del  suo  monarca, 

Del  suo  popolo! 

Viva  la  Valdania! 
The  song  gets  more  and  more  frenzied.  At  its 
climax,  in  the  intoxication  of  emotion,  general 
roxo  again  offers  his  arm,  and  this  time  PEGGY, 
hypnotised,  takes  it — the  SUITE,  now  standing  in  a 
double  row,  lift  their  swords  with  a  flash  and  clash 
them  together  into  an  arch,  under  which  the  queen 
and  roxo  pass  out.] 

THE  SUITE 

Viva  la  reginaf  Viva  Margherita!  Viva  Margherita! 
NICHOLAS  stands  like  a  granite  image  of  despair.] 

[Curtain.] 

73 


Act  II 

The  throne-room  in  the  old  San  Marco  Palace  at  Sca- 
letta.  It  is  a  vast  oblong  apartment  furnished  only 
with  heavy  old  chairs  in  embroidered  Spanish 
leather  against  the  rear  wall.  The  throne,  ornate 
and  gilded,  stands  on  a  dais  to  the  left  under  a  pur- 
ple canopy,  with  its  back  to  the  wall.  Both  chair 
and  canopy  are  blazoned  with  the  arms  of  Val-4 
dania,  a  serpent  encircling  an  eagle,  a  crown  is 
sculptured  above  the  chair,  and  over  it  on  the  wall 
hangs  a  great  old-fashioned  sword  and  buckler,  re- 
puted to  be  Alpastroom's.  The  floor  is  mosaic,  the 
rear  wall  barbaric  with  battle  frescoes  ("Alpas- 
troom  falling  at  Rome,"  etc.),  above  which  hang 
captured  flags.  In  the  centre  is  a  great  hearth, 
now  fireless.  There  are  busts  of  kings  or  stone 
figures  in  niches,  and  here  and  there,  on  narrow 
oak  tables  by  wall,  candlesticks  with  wax  candles. 
A  worn  stone  step  on  either  side  of  the  rear  wall 
mounts  to  a  balconied  casement  of  coloured  glass; 
that  on  the  right  picturing  the  Madonna  and  Child, 
the  other  full  of  heraldic  blazons  of  the  old  V al- 
danian  provinces.  The  exit  to  the  right  is  marked 
by  two  marble  pillars,  while  rich  Oriental  hangings 
to  the  left  denote  the  entrance  to  the  more  private 
parts  of  the  Palace.  Near  the  right  casement  is 
ranged  a  file  of  guards  under  a  corporal  with  fixed 
bayonets.  They  are  dressed  in  kilts  with  quaint 
feathered  caps,  and  from  their  voluminous  and  bril- 
liantly coloured  silken  sashes  hang  scimitars  and 

75 


yataghans.  The  casement  behind  is  open  out- 
wards, showing  the  stone  balcony  and  the  far-off 
shimmering  lake  and  snow-peaks,  but  not  the  Pi- 
azza da  Pietra,  which  though  immediately  with- 
out is  too  far  below  to  be  visible.  Its  existence  an- 
nounces itself,  however,  as  the  curtain  rises,  by  the 
chaotic  buzz  and  laughter  of  a  great  holiday  crowd, 
and  the  festal  animation  is  accentuated  by  the  joy- 
ous carilloning  of  bells  and  the  stamping  and 
trampling  of  police-horses.  Colonel,  the  marquis 
fiuma,  now  Governor  of  the  Palace,  in  a  new  mili- 
tary uniform,  blazing  with  decorations,  is  writing 
in  a  note-book.] 

VOICES  FROM  BELOW  [Dominant  over  the  din 

and  bells] 
Order  of  Procession,  Official ! 
Portrait  of  Queen  Margherita — One  Lira ! 
Only  Two  Soldi — Postcards  of  the  Convent! 
Keep  back  please,  keep  your  line ! 

[Noise   of  horses  wheeling  and  backing.     Some 

shrieks.] 
Holy  Virgin!     Mind  my  baby! 

The  Convent  at  Rome  where  Her  Majesty  was  edu- 
cated— Only  Two  Soldi ! 

FIUMA 

Close  the  window — I  cannot  think! 

[corporal  vanni  obeys;  noises  grow  subdued,  the 
high-pitched  bells  give  the  dominant  festal  note. 
The    MARQUIS    writes    silently.      Enter    excitedly 

76 


general  ROXO,  now  military  Governor  of  Scaletta, 
booted  and  spurred,  in  full  gala  costume,  but  with 
a  black  band  on  his  only  arm.  The  GUARDS  salute, 
he  acknowledges  the  salute  mechanically,  hardly 
seeming  to  see  it.] 

ROXO 

How  many  men  have  you  guarding  the  Queen's 
apartments? 

FIUMA 

Nine,  excellency. 

ROXO 

Double  them!  Marrobio  has  been  seen  near  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies. 

FIUMA 

The  Mahdi?  He  has  ventured  down  from  his  moun- 
tains? 

ROXO 

The.  Moslem  dog  is  desperate.  The  Coronation  am- 
nesty robbed  him  of  nearly  all  his  followers. 

FIUMA 

But  why  didn't  you  order  his  arrest? 

ROXO 

In  such  a  crowd!  There'd  be  a  panic — innocent  peo- 
ple trampled  on,  while  he  perhaps  got  away.  Ah,  the 
rogue  knows  there's  safety  in  numbers.     But  Captain 

77 


Molp  has  closed  all  the  city  gates — we've  cut  off  his 
retreat. 

FIUMA 

Better  have  cut  off  his  advance.  But  I  should  have 
thought  the  danger-zone  is  Parliament,  especially 
while  the  Queen  stands  reading  her  speech.  He  can't 
get  in  here. 

ROXO 

Marrobio  is  a  man  of  genius.  And  profiting  by  his 
ancient  acquaintance  with  the  Palace,  he  may  even  get 
into  the  Queen's  room.  And  it  would  scarcely  be  an 
auspicious  inauguration  of  your  new  Palace  duties,  my 
dear  Colonel,  if 

FIUMA 

Enough,  excellency.     And  thanks  for  the  warning! 
[Hurried  exit  through  the  hangings  L.] 

ROXO 

Corporal  Vanni !  Your  salute  just  now  lacked  snap. 
Be  careful  it  is  more  precise  for  Her  Majesty — why 
that  blackguard  has  never  pipe-clayed  his  belt!  Let 
him  have  a  day  in  the  cells — to-morrow! 

VANNI 

Yes,  my  General ! 

ROXO 

And  go  back  to  the  ranks  yourself. 

78 


VANNI 

Yes,  my  General! 

[roxo  hurries  out  between  the  pillars.  The  guards 
have  scarcely  time  to  salute.  After  an  instant  the 
men  begin  to  titter  at  the  CORPORAL.] 

VANNI 

Silence,  pigs !     I  am  still  swineherd  to-day. 

[  They  grow  rigid.     A  pause. .] 
Say,  comrades,  if  any  of  you  would  like  to  buy  those 
brooches  with  the  Queen's  picture,  come  to  me.     My 
brother-in-law  makes  'em. 

[GUARDS  relax] 
The  Jew  hawkers  are  all  profiteers — do  you  know 
what  they  pay  for  the  picture  postcards  of  the  Con- 
vent where  our  Margherita  was  hidden  away  all  these 
years?    .    .    .    Not  a  single  soldo    .    .    . 

[A  noise  in  the  corridor.] 
Attention ! 

[guards  rigid.] 
Ah,  false  alarm. 

[guards  relax.] 
As  I  was  saying,  my  brother-in-law  can  afford  to  let 
me  have  the  brooches  cheap  because,  though  this  pro- 
cession is  nothing  to  the  Coronation,  he's  let  his  shop 
front  for  double  then — he  ought  to  pay  Entertainment 
Tax! 

GUARDS   [In  parasitic  laughter] 

Ha!  Ha!  Ha! 

79 


VANNI  [Beaming] 

They  should  make  me  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer — 

[Curtains  L.  part,  showing  the  marquis  fiuma 

returning.     GUARDS  grow  rigid.] 

FIUMA  [Crossing  to  corporal] 
Be  sure  you  let  no  one  in  a  turban  pass  to-day  unchal- 
lenged— except,  of  course,  the  Turkish  Ambassador. 

VANNI 

Yes,  my  Colonel. 

[marquis  is  moving  out.] 
But  how  shall  I  know  it's  the  Turkish  Ambassador? 

FIUMA 

By  his  coming  to  the  State  Banquet,  imbecile.     But 

that  won't  be  till  thirteen  o'clock. 

[He  turns  and  smiles  as  the  curtains  part,  reveal- 
ing the  duchess  d'azollo,  Mistress  of  the  Robes 
and  Grand  Mistress  of  the  Court,  with  her  two 
beautiful  maids  of  honour.  The  duchess  is  aged 
and  stately,  with  a  mantilla  and  a  great  necklace 
of  rough  uncut  stones;  the  girls  wear  little  red 
fezzes  covered  with  seed-pearl  and  gold  design, 
while  their  hair,  coiled  or  plaited,  is  rolled  under 
the  edge  of  the  cap.] 

FIUMA 

Ha,  aunt,  you're  up!     Headache  better? 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Never  mind  my  headache !    Who  are  all  these  strange 

men  hovering  about  our  apartments? 

80 


FIUMA 

Detectives,  Duchess. 

DUCHESS  D'A.  [Drily] 

So  I  thought  by  our  detecting  them. 

FIUMA 

Ha  !  Ha  !  Ha !  But  seriously,  aunt — if  it  won't 
frighten  these  charming  damsels — Marrobio's  on  the 
war-path. 

DUCHESS  and  MAIDS  [In  horror] 
Marrobio! 

FIUMA 

Oh,  not  in  the  Palace — only  near  Parliament. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

See  how  curses  come  home  to  roost!  If  King  Tito 
had  not  had  a  Moslem  mistress ! 

FIUMA  [Indicating  maids  of  honor] 
Sh! 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Oh,  they  know  all  about  the  Mahdi's  parentage.  I 
repeat,  if  King  Tito  had  confined  himself  to  Chris- 
tian ladies 

FIUMA 

My  hair  wouldn't  be  turning  as  grey  as  yours,  aunt. 
However,  let  us  be  thankful  for  large  mercies,  seeing 
81  F 


that  Marrobio  is  the  only  jar  in  this  wonderful  har- 
mony. Confess,  Duchess,  though  you  didn't  like  the 
Duke's  Regency  drying  up,  the  Queen's  coming  has 
worked  miracles.  Moslem,  Greek-Orthodox,  Cath- 
olics, are  at  one  in  adoration — it  is  a  religion ! 

DUCHESS  D'A.  [Drily] 
With  the  Duke  as  High  Priest. 

FIUMA 

Uncle  always  had  an  excellent  taste  in  pictures.  And 
when  did  a  people  have  a  more  artistic  head  on  its 
stamps  and  coins? 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Ah,  you  are  all  in  love  with  her! 

i'IUMA  [Smiling  evasively] 

You  don't  include  the  Prime  Minister? 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Why  else  did  Cazotti  fish  her  up?  If  it  wasn't  that 
Margherita  is  her  mother's  image  I  should  suspect 
he'd  foisted  some  love-child  of  his  own  on  the  throne. 
Why  didn't  he  tell  us  all  these  years  he  had  rescued 
the  infant  Princess  and  was  educating  her  in  a  Roman 
convent? 

FIUMA  [A  bit  embarrassed] 

Hasn't  he  explained  that  he  wanted  the  country  to 

settle  down  constitutionally,  that  he  couldn't  risk  her 

being  murdered  like  her  mother? 

82 


DUCHESS  D'A. 

But  he  could  risk  the  Duke  being  murdered  as  Regent! 
Anyhow,  it's  too  dreadful  his  making  his  wife  a  Dame 
of  Honour.  In  King  Tito's  day  she  wouldn't  even 
have  been  received  at  Court. 

FIUMA 

And  do  you  suppose  Cazotti  can  help  himself?  His 
wife  is  his  cross. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

It's  all  a  dreadful  warning  against  democracy.  Since 
the  creature's  been  Lady  of  the  Bedchamber,  she  con- 
siders herself  one  of  the  Royal  Family.  Have  you 
noticed  how  she  copies  the  Queen's  dresses?  By  the 
way,  I  do  think  that  horrible  Jew-Baroness  Gripstein 
should  be  forbidden  to  wear  a  necklace  just  like 
mine. 

FIUMA 

What  do  necklaces  matter?  What  revolts  me  is  her 
horrible  husband  wearing  the  Order  of  the  Re- 
deemer  

[Boom  of  distant  gun.     The  DUCHESS  and  MAIDS 

shriek.'] 
No,  no,  that's  not  Marrobio,  that's  only  the  gun  pro- 
claiming the  Queen  has  left  Parliament. 

[Re-enter  roxo  R.     The  guards  present  arms.] 

ROXO 

Ah,  Duchess,  I'm  glad  your  headache  is  better. 

83 


DUCHESS  D'A. 

My  headache  was  only  for  royal  consumption.  The 
idea  of  expecting  me  to  ride  with  the  Countess 
Cazotti ! 

ROXO 

It  is  with  the  Queen  you  would  have  been  riding:  it 
was  your  duty  to  accompany  Her  Majesty  to  the 
opening  of  Parliament. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

I  am  sure  that  the  Queen  prefers  the  company  of  my 
husband ! 

[Sweeps  out  L.  with  her  ladies.] 

FIUMA  [Laughingly,  to  GENERAL  ROXO] 
Dear  aunt!     She's  jealous! 

ROXO  [Smiling] 

How  absurd!  Why,  the  Duke  told  me  over  a  cigar 
that  the  Virgin  Queen  fills  him  with  a  strange  new 
reverence  for  womanhood,  and  that  this  is  the  first 
time  he's  ever  been  in  love  innocently. 

FIUMA 

And  it's  the  first  time  the  Duchess  has  ever  been 
jealous!  How  funny!  I  suppose,  having  nothing  to 
hide  this  time,  he  takes  no  precautions.  But  I  sym- 
pathise with  the  old  boy's  latest  passion.  I'd  propose 
myself,  if  I  didn't  know  I'd  be  ordered  off  to  instant 
execution. 

84 


ROXO 

You  are  not  far  wrong.     An  asset  like  the  Queen  is 
not  to  be  wasted. 

FIUMA  {With  a  half-angry,  half-comical  grimace'] 
Wasted? 

ROXO 

You  know  Valdania  must  lay  her  out  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage— she  can  restore  our  political  fortunes. 

FIUMA     [Consciously    shocked    and    unconsciously 

jealous] 
You  are  already  devising  her  marriage? 

ROXO 

Already?     Do  you  suppose  there  were  no  Princes  in- 
specting her  at  the  Coronation? 

FIUMA 

Poor  Queen !   Surely  a  better  way  to  restore  our  politi- 
cal fortunes  would  be  to  win  back  our  lost  province. 

ROXO  [Roaring] 
What? 

FIUMA 

That's  what  they  are  saying  at  the  Officers'  Club — 
Death  to  Bosnavina ! 

ROXO 

Death  to  Valdania,  they  mean.     You  remember  the 
old  saying: 

85 


"Who  draws  the  sword  of  Alpastroom 
Writes  our  or  Bosnavina's  doom." 

FIUMA  [Laughingly] 

A  safe  prophecy.  But  our  young  bloods  drink  to 
"The  Day"  and  believe  the  Queen  is  our  war-mascot. 
They  even  toast  her  by  her  obsolete  title  of  "Duchess 
of  Bosnavina,"  and  they  would  die  for  her  to  a  man. 

ROXO 
Hush! 

[Indicates  soldiers.] 

FIUMA 

They  don't  count. 

ROXO  [In  low  tones] 

Bosnavina   has   her   filthy   spies   everywhere — not  to 

mention  Cazotti's. 

[Aloud.] 
Withdraw  your  men,  Corporal,  till  I  give  the  word. 

VANNI 

Yes,  my  General.     Into  file,  right  turn,  quick  march. 
[Exeunt  guards  R.] 

FIUMA 

You  seem  very  agitated,  General. 

ROXO 

Because  we're  not  ready  for  war.  And  Bosnavina — 
86 


our  friend  in  her  War  Office  informs  us — grows 
stronger  daily. 

FIUMA 

Then  why  not  get  our  blow  in  before  she's  too  strong? 
All  the  young  officers  keep  asking  me — thinking  I'm 
in  the  know — When  are  we  going  to  get  our  knife 
into  the  beastly  Bosnavinians? 

ROXO 

These  cockerels  crow  too  soon. 

FIUMA 

No!  They  feel  "The  Day"  dawning.  Why,  as  Dra- 
matic Censor,  I've  had  three  plays  this  month  all 
breathing  Delenda  est  Bosnavina. 

ROXO  [Alarmed] 

Cristof    You  stopped  them,  of  course? 

FIUMA 

Of  course.     It's  not  for  playwrights  to  interfere  in 

politics. 

ROXO 

Nor  for  new-whelped  officers.    Let  them  stick  to  their 
dicing  and  womanising. 
[Going  out  R.] 

FIUMA 

With  all  respect,  General,  you  shouldn't  have  stopped 
duelling.     It  lets  off  some  of  the  blood. 

87 


ROXO  [Turning] 

They  don't  meditate  a  raid,  these  hotheads? 

FIUMA  [Hesitating] 

No. 

ROXO 
The  truth! 

FIUMA 

I  don't  know  that  I've  the  right.    ...    I  must  see 
what  my  men  are  up  to. 
[Goes  L.] 

ROXO  [Red-hot] 

Because  if  they  compromise  us  before  we're  ready,  I 

shall  hang  them  like  dogs ! 

FIUMA 

It — it  isn't  exactly  a  raid  on  our  irredenta — that's  too 
mountainous.  But  the  delta  of  our  river  which  Bos- 
navina  has  always  possessed 

ROXO 

Yes,  damn  her! 

FIUMA 

It  is  there.  They  claim  that  the  land  is  only  silt 
washed  down  by  our  waters,  and  therefore  morally 
ours. 


ROXO 

Unquestionably.     Nevertheless 

FIUMA 

I  only  gathered  vaguely,  you  know,  but  I  fancy  the 
plan  is  to  swoop  down  and  plant  our  flag  on  the  Cus- 
tom House. 

ROXO 

Tomfoolery !    What  good  will  that  do  ? 

FIUMA 

Well,  they  think  that  this  deed  of  derring-do — while 
you  are  dilly-dallying — will  raise  Valdania  to  blood- 
heat  and 

ROXO 

While  I  am  dilly-dallying!  My  God,  when  I  think 
of  our  Revenge  day  and  night — what  else  have  I 
to  think  of  now  my  poor  Lisa's  dead? 

\_Wipes  his  eyes.] 
They  come,  these  cackling  cubs,  stuffed  with  military 
science    from    their    French    or    Italian    schools,    and 
preach  I'm  only  a  slugabed,  who  must  never  be  made 
a  Marshal. 

FIUMA 

No,  no,  sir,  you  are  still  the  nation's  hero. 

ROXO 

I  was — six  months  ago.  But  it  takes  less  time  to  kill 
off  a  national  hero  than  to  bring  a  babe  to  birth. 
89 


.  .  .  They  are  right.  I've  lost  my  grip  these  black 
weeks. 

[Blows  his  nose.] 
I  didn't  realise  there's  so  much  healthy  war-spirit. 

FIUMA 

Isn't  it  natural,  now  we're  so  happy  and  prosperous? 

ROXO 

And  it's  all  through  the  Queen,  God  bless  her. 

[Wipes  his  eyes.] 
But  I  understand  now  why  Cazotti  has  put  a  larger 
army  into  the  Queen's  speech. 

FIUMA 

Has  he?    Trust  him  to  keep  his  ear  to  the  ground. 

ROXO 

And  he  pretended  it  was  to  conciliate  me!  But  if  the 
country  is  coming  along  of  itself.  .  .  .  All  the  same, 
Colonel,  warn  our  young  bloods  that  with  this  new- 
fangled League  of  Nations  always  making  trouble  for 
the  weaker,  the  first  blow  must  come  from  Bosnavina, 
not  from  us,  and  if  they  dare  stir  a  finger  before  we're 
ready 

FIUMA 

The  aide-de-camp  on  service  here  to-day  is  the  wildest 
— I'll  speak  to  him  at  once. 

[Exit  L*     ROXO  hums  happily  and  moves  R.] 

ROXO  [Calling  genially] 
Come  along,  Corporal! 
90 


VANNI 

Subito,  my  General!     Left  turn,  march! 

[Re-enter  guards  and  take  up  old  position.] 

ROXO 

You  may  keep  your  stripe. 

VANNI 

Thank  you,  my  General ! 

[Exit   ROXO   R.,    humming   on    happily.      GUARDS 
salute.] 
You  see,  you  swine ! 

[Stretches  himself.] 
.  .  .  Time  the  Queen  got  home !  I'm  ravenous. 
On  duty  since  dawn.  They  never  consider  us,  these 
grandees.  I  don't  mean  the  Queen,  God  bless  her — 
she'd  chuck  us  her  own  macaroni  if  she  knew !  But  I 
suppose  we're  better  off  than  those  poor  devils  down 
there,  standing  all  night  on  the  Piazza,  eh?  True, 
they've  got  their  grub  with  them.  Good  idea !  Has 
anybody  got  any  string? 

[Various  pieces  are  offered  to  the  tyrant.] 
That!     Wouldn't  even  go   round  your  neck!    .    .    . 
Ah,  that's  more  like  it!    .    .    . 

[He  ties  pieces  together  to  the  end  of  a  bayonet.] 
Fools  hunger,  wise  men  fish. 

[GUARDS  laugh.  He  pushes  open  casement  R.,  let- 
ting in  noises  as  before.  But  the  bells  have  ceased 
and  the  cries  of  the  hawkers  are  now  dominated  by 
the  gipsy-like  strains  of  folk  music  from  the  guzlas 
(the  two-stringed  mandolines)  and  the  shrill 
9i 


sounds  of  bagpipes.     The  CORPORAL  goes  out  on 
the  balcony  and  drops  his  fishing-line  into  the  Pi- 
azza, shouting  down.] 
Hi  there !     Don't  eat  it  all ! 

[Laughter  and  applause  comes  up  from  the  crowd, 
other  noises  are  stilled  in  the  general  interest.  The 
corporal's  men  move  from  their  file  and  crowd 
around  casement.] 
Tie  it  on !  Thanks !  Ah,  that's  coming,  coming,  com- 
ing  

[A  breathless  moment,  followed  by  a  loud  roar.] 
Damn! 

[guards  join  in  laughter.] 
No,  it's  too  dirty  now.  ...  A  tin  of  meat? 
Thanks,  Abdullah  Mashallah,  or  whatever  your  name 
is  .  .  .  May  your  shadow  never  grow  less !  .  .  . 
Pass  it  up  to  the  urchin  astride  Tito's  statue  and  he'll 
pass  it  to  the  rascal  trespassing  on  the  flag-staff.  .  .  . 
Tie  it  round  tight,  you  son  of  a  squirrel !  That's  it — 
coming — coming — coming — Come  ! 

[Crowd  and  GUARDS   clap  hands  in  vast  amuse- 
ment.     COPORAL   re-enters,    closing  casement  and 
begins  detaching  the  package  from  his  fishing-rod.] 
Cristof    He  gives  good  weight! 

USHER  [Without  R.] 

The  saints  preserve  your  excellency ! 

[A  lightning  rush  of  GUARDS  to  get  into  line,  and 
of  the  CORPORAL  to  pocket  the  package  and 
string.] 

92 


VANNI  [Looking  off] 

Oh,  it's  only  the  Jew-Baron.    But  it  pays  to  salute  him. 

Attention,   pigs! 

[Enter  BARON  GRIPSTEIN  in  gala  attire  wearing  the 
sash  of  the  Order  of  the  Redeemer.  He  is  a  some- 
what florid  personage  of  sympathetic  and  intelli- 
gent appearance  with  marked  Semitic  features. 
The  guards  present  arms.] 

BARON  GR.  [Beaming] 

Ah,  Corporal,  this  is  a  great  day  for  our  country — 
you  must  all  drink  to  it. 
[Distributes  notes.] 

VANNI  and  GUARDS 
The  saints  preserve  your  excellency! 
[Re-enter  fiuma  L.] 

BARON  [Turning] 

Buon  giorno,  Marquis.  You're  looking  so  much 
better  that  when  I  carried  a  candle  behind  you  in  the 
Corpus  Domini   Procession. 

[MARQUIS  stares  frigidly.] 
Ah,  you  are  wondering  why  I  am  so  early  for  the  Ban- 
quet. But  I  had  business  with  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Household  and  I  know  I  couldn't  get  through  the 
crowd  again  even  to  escort  the  Baroness.  Marvellous 
weather,  is  it  not?  Queen's  weather  we  are  beginning 
to  call  it.  It  was  the  same,  you  remember,  when 
Cazotti  brought  her  home  from  the  convent,  and  the 
same  at  the  Coronation. 

93 


[FIUMA  has  insolently  turned  his  back  on  the 
BARON  and  is  writing  in  his  note-book.] 
Oh,  how  she  has  pulled  the  country  together — I  never 
was  so  proud  of  being  a  Valdanian.  But  I  see  you 
have  no  time  for  gossip.  I  don't  wonder,  with  your 
responsibilities  to-day.  A  rivederla  at  the  Banquet. 
[Exit  R.     The  guards  salute.] 

FIUMA 

How  dare  you  salute  a  Jew? 

VANNI 

So  sorry,  my  Colonel.    We  salute  everybody  with  the 

Order  of  the  Redeemer.    Attention  ! 

[roxo   re-enters   and   the  fresh   salute   stops    the 

discussion.] 

FIUMA 

Did  you  see  the  Jew? 

ROXO 

I  met  him,  but  I  didn't  see  him. 

FIUMA 

And  I  didn't  hear  him.     Ha !     Ha  !     Ha ! 

ROXO 

This    is    no    time    for    amusement.      Marrobio    has 

eluded  us. 

FIUMA 

Escaped  through  a  city-gate? 

94 


ROXO 

Would  to  God  he  had !  Captain  Molp  got  the  Queen 
safely  Into  the  carnage  and  it  is  moving  faster  than 
the  crowd  likes.  But  what  if  Marrobio  is  lurking  just 
below  us  to  stab  or  shoot  her  as  she  alights? 

FIUMA 

He'd  be  torn  in  pieces. 

ROXO 

He'd  think  it  worth  while  and  that  Paradise  and  its 

houris  awaited  him. 

FIUMA 

We  ought  to  have  arrested  him  while  we  had  the 
chance. 

ROXO 

Perhaps  you  were  right.    But  I  hate  wasting  life.    I'll 

see  if  I  can  espy  him. 

[He  mounts  step  R.,  pushes  open  casement  and 

steps    on   balcony.      The    noises    almost   instantly 

change  into  one  great  cry  of  "Roxo/  Roxo!  Viva 

Roxo/"] 

[He  shrinks  back  modestly.] 

For  heaven's  sake! 
[Closes  casement.] 

This  is  not  my  day. 

FIUMA  [Smiling] 

What  about  the  forgotten  national  hero?     Eh? 

95 


ROXO  [Steps  down] 

We  were  speaking  of  silly  young  officers. 

[Hums   happily    again,     turns    genially    to    COR- 
PORAL.] 

Your  men  must  be  famished.     What?     There's  time 

before  the  Queen  arrives  to  snatch  a  mouthful. 

VANNI 

God  bless  you,  my  General.     Right  wheel,  forward! 

ROXO 

But  keep  your  ears  open  for  the  National  Anthem — 
or  I'll  cut  'em  off. 

VANNI 

Ah,  my  General,  when  shall  we  cut  'em  off  the  beastly 

Bosnavinians? 

ROXO     , 

You  prattle  too  much. 
[Exeunt  guards  R.] 

ROXO 

One  thing  puzzles  me,  Colonel.  How  did  Marrobio 
in  his  remote  fastness  know  that  to-day  the  Queen 
would  open  Parliament? 

FIUMA 

I  suppose  one  of  his  amnestied  followers  passed  on 
the  date. 

ROXO 

Unless  it  was  Cazotti ! 
96 


FIUMA 

The  Prime  Minister!  Oh  come,  excellency!  That's 
too  cynical. 

[Looks  toward  Piazza.] 
I  suppose  there's  no  other  measure  we  can  take. 

ROXO 

None.     In  war  there  is  always  the  unexpected.     And 

this  dare-devil  descent  of  Marrobio's !     We  can 

only  pray  that  the  God  of  Valdania  will  protect  our 
Margherita. 

FIUMA 

Amen! 

ROXO 

And  baffle  Cazotti. 

FIUMA 

No,  I  won't  say  "Amen"  to  that.  Cazotti  has  ob- 
viously abandoned  his  hopes  of  the  crown  and  finds 
consolation  in  the  prestige  he  has  extracted  from  the 
very  collapse  of  them.  Yes,  he  may  rob  your  excel- 
lency of  the  glory  of  restoring  the  Queen,  he  may 
stamp  his  fraud  on  the  mob  with  films  and  picture 
postcards,  but  as  for  conniving  with  a  rebel  to  mur- 
der her — no !  no !  What  was  it  Da  Pietra  called  him? 
A  modern  condottiere !    And  murder  isn't  modern. 

ROXO 

I  wouldn't  trust  him  if  a  mediaeval  opportunity  came 

97  g 


his  way.  Look  how  he  had  Marrobio's  lieutenant 
murdered. 

FIUMA 

Do  you  mean  the  one  who  surrendered  at  the  Coro- 
nation Amnesty?    But  you  acquiesced ! 

ROXO 

It  was  a  painful  State  necessity.  The  amnesty  was 
indiscreet,  too  wide — the  man  probably  meant  to  spy 
— But  what  I  might  do  or  permit  for  State  reasons, 
Cazotti  is  capable  of  doing  to  gain  the  throne.  See, 
anyhow,  that  the  office  of  royal  taster  isn't  abolished 
— the  most  subtle  poisons  are  modern. 

FIUMA 

But  if  you  are  right,  what  can  one  do  against  such  a 
man? 

ROXO 

Only  what  I  do  do;  work  with  him.  It's  the  only 
means  of  keeping  a  check  on  him.  Let  him  rob  me  of 
my  glory,  I  use  him  for  the  glory  of  God  and  Val- 
dania.  You  see  how  he  is  coming  our  way  with  his 
Army  Bill.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  find  it  easier  to 
handle  a  devil  like  Cazotti  th^n  an  angel  like  the 
Queen. 

FIUMA  [Smiling] 

What  has  Her  Majesty  done  now? 

98 


ROXO 

Oh,  nothing  new.  I'm  only  thinking  of  the  trouble 
she  gave  us  over  his  convent  story.  These  American 
college  girls  have  such  a  primitive  sense  of  truth. 

FIUMA 

I  rather  admired  it. 

ROXO 

You're  getting  as  sentimental  as  the  Duke.  Public 
personages  cannot  keep  private  consciences.  I  don't 
know  what  Cazotti  would  have  done  if  his  most  rev- 
erend eminence,  her  Confessor,  hadn't  instructed  her 
that  a  fiction  in  the  State  interest  is  not  merely  venial 
but  a  virtue.  Even  so,  you  remember,  the  obsti- 
nate creature  would  go  into  a  Roman  convent  for  a 
term. 

FIUMA 

Which  only  gave  Cazotti  the  opportunity  of  photo- 
graphing the  place,  with  Margherita  in  the  back- 
ground. 

ROXO 

And  himself  in  the  foreground. 

FIUMA 

And  himself  in  the  foreground. 

USHER  [outside  R.] 

Way  there  for  the  Prime  Minister. 

99 


FIUMA 

Talk  of  the ! 

[Enter  cazotti  in  gala  dress,  with  stars  and  or- 
ders. He  is  short  and  stout,  like  Napoleon,  with 
a  big  head  carefully  modelled  on  his.  Manner 
genial.  He  comes  forward  holding  out  both 
hands.] 

CAZ. 

What  luck  to  find  you  both  before  the  Banquet! 

ROXO   [Taking  one  hand] 
What  luck  to  be  found! 

FIUMA  [Taking  the  other] 

Dear  Count  Cazotti,  what  can  we  do  for  you? 

CAZ. 

Exercise  your  military  censorship  over  the  newspapers. 
The  Queen  has  altered  the  Queen's  speech! 

ROXO 

Your  speech,  you  mean. 

CAZ. 

Ah,  I  know  in  your  heart  you  militarists  would  like 
to  bring  back  autocracy.  But  that's  impossible  in 
these  days  of  popular  control.  One  would  have 
thought  all  this  glory  and  huzzahing  quite  enough  for 
a  young  girl  without  her  itching  to  interfere  in  State 
affairs — there  must  be  fair  division,  what?  Why, 
here  am  I  who  have  carried  the  real  burden  of 
ioo 


Valdania  for  years,  and  yet  were  I  to  go  out  into  that 
crowd 

FIUMA  [Slily] 

Your  excellency  wasn't  cheered,  coming? 

CAZ. 

I  dodged  the  route — I  was  in  a  hurry  to  stop  her  in- 
discretions getting  into  print. 

ROXO 

But  the  papers  are  in  your  own  hands. 

CAZ. 

Mine?  I  parted  with  all  such  interests  when  I  took 
office. 

FIUMA 

Ahem! 

CAZ. 

Word  of  honour,  Marquis.  To  Baron  Gripstein,  if 
you  want  to  know. 

ROXO 

Our  press  in  Jewish  hands! 

CAZ. 

The  best  way  to  keep  it  tame.  No,  it's  not  Gripstein's 
papers  I'm  afraid  of — they  had  the  official  speech  in 
type  before  it  was  delivered — it's  these  irresponsible 

Pacifist  organs 

101 


ROXO  [Alarmed] 

She  didn't  cut  out  the  increase  of  the  army? 

CAZ. 

Oh  no !  I  worded  it  "Reform  of  the  Army"  and  she 
thought  it  meant  diminution. 

ROXO  and  FIUMA 
Ha!  Ha!  Ha! 

CAZ.    [Smiling] 

Ah,  but  she  poured  out  a  programme  that  wouldn't 

leave  a  penny  for  our  glorious  army — roads,  bridges, 

canals,  railways,  irrigation,  schools,  colleges — all  the 

things   she    found    in   America    and    can't   find    here. 

Would  to  God  she  had  been  brought  up  in  my  Roman 

convent. 

ROXO 

Didn't  she  promise  everybody  a  bathroom? 

CAZ. 

Ha  !  Ha !  We  had  enough  worry  building  her  own 
bathroom.  You  remember  the  trouble  to  put  in  the 
telephone.  The  old  Palace  doesn't  lend  itself  to  these 
new-fangled  devices;  especially  as  it  began  life  as  a 
monastery. 

FIUMA 

But  how  on  earth  did  she  know  we  need  canals  and 

bridges? 

102 


CAZ. 

It's  that  old  fool,  the  Duke  D'Azollo,  who  motors 
her  about — Oh,  I'm  sorry — I  forgot  he  was  your 
aunt's  husband. 

FIUMA 

He  often  forgot  it  himself. 

[Laughter.] 
But  won't  the  Queen  be  angry  if  we  cut  out  her  canals 
and :? 

CAZ. 

That's  all  right.  I  just  met  the  Baron  in  the  corridor, 
and  he'll  have  a  special  copy  of  the  Gazetta  printed 
off  for  her,  with  her  indiscretions  in  full.  That's  the 
only  paper  she  reads  herself.  The  rest  are  summar- 
ised by  her  secretary  and  he  will  report  that  they  are 
all  enthusiastic  about  her  bathrooms — I  beg  her  par- 
don, canals. 

[ROXO  and  he  laugh.] 

FIUMA 

How  we  all  deceive  her!    Her  position  is  pitiful. 

CAZ. 

Pitiful?    It  is  magnificent! 

FIUMA 

Tt  isn't  very  magnificent  to  be  cut  off  from  the  people 
you've  been  brought  up  among!  To  have  your  letters 
and  wires  stopped  without  your  knowledge!  It's  like 
writing  to  the  dead,  she  said  to  me  once,  with  tears 
103 


in  her  eyes.  To  make  me  feel  worse,  I  had  to  suggest 
that  the  reason  she  got  no  answers  from  Da  Pietra 
and  Oliver  Randel  was  that  they  would  not  forgive 
her  for  deserting  them — and  now  she  goes  about  re- 
signed, ecstatic  even,  like  a  young  nun  cut  off  from 
her  past.  You  may  imagine  the  relief  to  me  to  have 
no  more  letters  to  open! 

ROXO 

What!  While  I  was  at  my  poor  wife's  death-bed, 
you  have  let  Her  Majesty  stop  writing  heart-to-heart 
letters ! 

FIUMA 

I  don't  understand 


ROXO 

What  other  means  have  we  of  discovering  her  secret 
thoughts?  And  when  it  comes  to  providing  her  with  a 
Prince  Consort 

CAZ. 

Most  true.  We  must  at  once  find  her  another  cor- 
respondent. 

ROXO 

Not  possible.  One  can't  suddenly  create  for  her  a 
friend  to  whom  she'll  pour  herself  out. 

CAZ. 

I  have  it.     I'll  remove  the  Duke  from  the  capital. 
104 


ROXO 

Banish  him? 

CAZ. 

No,  no — send  him  on  a  mission.  Then  we  can  read 
her  letters  before  delivery. 

ROXO 

Splendid ! 

FIUMA 

I  don't  like  it.    And  besides,  he  won't  go. 

CAZ. 

I'll  send  him  to  study  canals — then  he  won't  dare  dis- 
please her  by  refusing. 

ROXO 

Ha !     Ha !     Ha  !     One  of  your  best  combinations. 

CAZ. 

And  on  second  thoughts,  why  suppress  her  peace  pro- 
gramme at  all?  It's  the  very  thing  to  keep  the  Paci- 
fists off  the  scent.     Eh,  General? 

ROXO 

I  don't  know  what  you  mean. 

CAZ. 

Come,  come!  I  play  cards  on  table.  If  you're  not 
out  to  smash  Bosnavina,  why  all  these  ice-axes,  cat- 
shoes,  skis  and  alpenstocks  that  the  War  Office  still 
105 


accumulates  against  Marrobio  under  your  demand? 
So  many  mountain-batteries,  such  heaps  of  munitions 
against  one  practically  isolated  individual? 

ROXO 

I  don't  deny  that  since  my  boyhood  the  Revenge  has 
been  my  dream — if  I  have  been  converted  to  Da 
Pietra's  policy  and  yours,  it  is  to  unite  all  Valdania  for 
the  great  day.     But  the  hour  is  not  ripe. 

CAZ. 

It  is  ripe — the  people  are  itching  for  their  lost  moun- 
tains— the  young  officers  drink  to  "The  Day!" 

FIUMA  [Startled] 
You  know? 

CAZ. 

Everything,  my  dear  Marquis — even  to  the  projected 
raid  on  the  Delta. 

ROXO 

A  fatal  folly.    We  are  not  ready. 

CAZ. 

So  you  said  twenty  years  ago.  You  never  really 
change. 

ROXO 

And  you're  always  changing. 

CAZ. 

I  change  with  the  times — like  the  thermometer  with 
the  temperature. 
1 06 


ROXO 

Or  the  weathercock  with  the  wind.  Then  is  politics 
only  inconsistency  raised  to  a  career? 

CAZ. 

To  a  science.  The  science  of  public  opinion.  Val- 
dania  feels  her  life  tingling.  Now  is  the  moment  to 
strike.     Now  or  never. 

ROXO 

For  you  perhaps — I,  too,  play  cards  on  table.  My 
Queen  has  trumped  your  kna  .  .  .  Jack.  And  you 
seek  to  recover  your  old  ascendency  over  the  people. 

CAZ. 

It  is  the  people  that  seeks  to  recover  our  old  ascend- 
ency over  Bosnavina. 

ROXO 

The  people's  heart  is  sound,  but  its  head  is  wood. 

CAZ. 

The  better  to  butt  with !  Come,  I'd  make  you  Mar- 
shal Roxo. 

ROXO  [Alarmed] 

For  God's  sake !     There  are  five  reasons  that  forbid 

war,  any  one  sufficient. 

CAZ. 

And  the  first? 
107 


ROXO 

Marrobio.     So  long  as  he  is  unhanged,  we  dare  not 

draw  off  our  forces. 

CAZ. 

But  he  is  all  but  deserted. 

ROXO 

The  opportunity  would  win  him  fresh  followers. 
Apropos,  you  know  him  from  the  old  Tito  days.  Do 
step  out  on  the  balcony  and  see  if  he's  in  the  crowd. 

CAZ.  [Agitated] 
He's  in  Scaletta? 

ROXO 

Alas! 

CAZ. 

And  you  ask  me  to  make  myself  a  target  for  him ! 
No,  thank  you. 

FIUMA 

/'//  look,  if  you  like,  though  I  don't  know  him  from 
Adam, 

[Going  to   casement] 
except  by  his  clothes.     Ha  !     Ha  !     What  sort  of  man 
is  he? 

ROXO 

Tall,  noble  even. 

[ fiuma  mounts  step  L.  and  pushes  open  casement 
L.     A  military  march  is  heard  in  the  distance.] 

1 08 


FIUMA 

Ah,  do  you  hear?  The  Queen  must  be  close  on  the 
Strada  Da  Pietra.    That's  her  own  peace-song.    .    .    . 

[Steps  out  on  balcony  and  looks  down.] 
There's  a  whole  group  of  Moslems  just  below — tall, 
short,  and  in-between. 

ROXO 

Never  mind.     We  must  trust  to  God. 
[ FIUMA  comes  in.] 

FIUMA  [Closing  casement] 

Jolly  tune,  isn't  it?     Makes  a  good  march. 

[Descends  step  to   the  rhythm,   now  heard  more 

plainly.] 

ROXO 

The  Queen  has  quite  a  little  talent,  musicians  tell  me. 
But  it's  a  mistake  for  royal  personages  to  expose 
themselves  even  to  praise.  The  University  can  make 
them  Doctors  cf  Science  or  Music,  but  they  oughtn't 
to  know  anything  of  either. 

CAZ. 

Ah,  but  look  what  an  asset  to  have  the  Queen's  own 
music  for  a  war-march.  Let  us  make  it  the  Valdanian 
"Tipperary." 

ROXO  [Roughly] 

It's  a  long,  long  way  to  Tipperary. 

CAZ. 

Ah,  yes;  your  five  reasons.    And  the  second? 
109 


ROXO 

We've  no  general !  No,  don't  say  me — I'm  a  cavalry 
man,  not  a  mountain-fighter.  Besides,  I'm  getting  too 
old  for  campaigning — my  wife's  death  has  not  left  me 
unshaken — my  absent  arm  reports  itself  sometimes — 
even  to-day — oh,  only  a  twinge;  I  just  mention  it. 
Still,  my  present  home  duties  are  about  all  I'm  fit  for. 
But  even  if  I  felt  as  young  as  when  I  fought  Da 
Pietra,  Valdania  lacks — and  that's  obstacle  number 
three — an  honest  man  at  the  War  Office ! 

CAZ. 

You  accuse ! 

FIUMA 

But,  General,  if  they've  got  you  your  ice-axes 1 

ROXO 

The  Commissions  were  good — I  speak  my  mind.  And 
suppose  somebody  tried  a  coup  on  the  Bourse !  No, 
by  God,  I  won't  be  betrayed  from  the  rear. 

CAZ. 

Well,  take  the  War  Office  yourself.  Only  find  me  an- 
other great  general. 

ROXO 

There  is  none.  I  make  no  pretences.  Valdania  has 
no  great  mountain-fighter — except  the  Mahdi ! 

CAZ. 

Except  Marrobio !    Ha !    Ha !    Ha ! 
no 


FIUMA 

Ha!     Ha!     Ha!     What  a  joke! 

ROXO 

But  the  grim  truth.  One  needs  guerilla  experience, 
and  all  the  military  genius  of  his  grandfather,  Boris 
the  Bloody,  which  skipped  over  Tito,  has  come  for 
our  sins  to  Marrobio.    ... 

[Pricks  up  his  ears] 
Why  has  the  music  stopped? 

CAZ. 

It  must  be  the  halt  at  the  Palace  of  Justice.  The 
Deputation  of  Judges 

ROXO 

Damn  the  fools !  Multiplying  risks  like  that.  That's 
where  Marrobio  will  be. 

[Bitterly.] 
He's  a  judge — of  positions. 

CAZ. 

Don't  let's  get  off  the  track.     What's  your  fourthly? 

ROXO 

We  dare  not  attack  Bosnavina  and  have  the  League 
of  Nations  on  our  back. 

CAZ. 

Pooh!      I'm   surprised   at  you,   General.      Bosnavina 
shall  open  the  ball.    We've  only  got  to  insult  that  pod 
of  pepper,  her  Ambassador. 
in 


FIUMA 

Ha!  Ha!  Ha!  It  was  just  because  Bosnavina  did 
not  open  the  ball  that  we  nearly  got  our  war  months 
ago. 

ROXO  [Agitated] 

Eh?    What  is  this  I  hear? 

FIUMA  [Smiling] 

You  didn't  know?  At  the  Coronation  Ball  the  Queen 
led  off  the  Cotillon  with  the  American  Minister  in- 
stead of  with  Prince  Condrexoulok.  The  Prince 
flung  out  of  the  ball-room,  grinding  his  false  teeth. 

CAZ. 

Seriously,  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  prevent  war. 

ROXO 

Good  God!    Why  wasn't  I  told? 

FIUMA 

You  were  away.     Your  wife  was  dying. 

ROXO 

What  did  that  matter?  With  the  country  in  danger! 
But  you  were  Chamberlain  then,  sir.  Why  did  you 
convey  the  Queen's  command  to  dance?  Why  didn't 
you  warn  her? 

FIUMA 

I  did.  Only  she  wouldn't  take  me  seriously.  She  said 
she  wanted  to  talk  about  America  and  that  the  poor 
112 


Minister  looked  so  drab  amid  all  his  parrot-coloured 
colleagues.  Not  that  I  quite  understand  myself  why 
our  best-hated  neighbour  must  always  have  prece- 
dence. 

ROXO 

Prince  Condrexoulok  is  the  doyen  of  the  diplomatic 
corps  as  well  as  a  Highness,  and,  anyhow,  an  Ambas- 
sador is  bigger  than  a  Minister. 

FIUMA 

Well,  we  can't  insult  him  in  the  ball-room  any 
longer,  for  he  can  only  walk  with  a  stick  now. 

CAZ. 

We'll  find  a  way.     What's  your  fifthly? 
[Music  strikes  up  again.] 

ROXO 

Ah,  they're  moving  on.  Thank  God!  ...  I  beg 
your  pardon? 

CAZ. 

Your' fifthly? 

ROXO 

Ah,  yes;  fifthly  and  finally,  no  money! 

CAZ. 

Pah !  Now  that  the  Queen  has  brought  stability,  and 
our  standing  on  the  Bourses  has  risen,  a  loan  on  the 

world-market,  Gripstein  assures  me 

113  h 


ROXO 

The  Baron?    We're  to  go  to  the  Jews! 

CAZ. 

Fiddlesticks !  The  man's  as  fervent  a  Catholic  as  you, 
and  an  even  fiercer  Anti-Semite ! 

ROXO 

And  a  Knight  of  the  Order  of  the  Redeemer!  A  man 
with  no  quarterings — not  even  a  shield !  Ah,  Cazotti, 
how  can  I  work  with  you,  when  you  give  a  Jew ? 

CAZ. 

But  it  was  the  Duke  who  insisted  on  it — the  outgoing 
Regent. 

ROXO 

Whose  pictures  Gripstein  bought  back  for  him. 

FIUMA  [Smiling] 

The  Baron  certainly  pays  his  way! 

CAZ. 

But  the  pictures  are  only  to  be  the  Duke's  during  his 
lifetime.     Then  Gripstein  gives  them  to  the  nation. 

ROXO 

The  nation  shall  refuse  them  if  I'm  alive! 

CAZ. 

Hoity-toity!  We've  already  accepted  two  hospitals 
and  an  officers'  orphanage.  You  tried  raising  money 
114 


without  him.  You  went  to  America.  What  did  you 
bring  back? 

ROXO  [Roaring] 

I  brought  back  the  Queen! 

CAZ. 

Hush!  Yes,  of  course!  But  the  Queen  is  scarcely 
convertible  into  cash.  Ah,  here  comes  the  converter 
himself 

FIUMA 

The  converted,  you  mean. 

[Laughter.    He  and  ROXO  ostentatiously  turn  their 
backs  on  the  BARON,  who  enters  R.~\ 

BARON  GR. 

I've  arranged  it  all,  your  excellency. 

CAZ. 

Then  'phone  it  all  off,  please.  We  want  the  Queen's 
actual  speech  reported  in  full  everywhere. 

BARON  GR. 

Then  you  adopt  her  peace-programme? 

CAZ. 

Enthusiastically.     You  approve? 

BARON  GR. 

I  am  enchanted.    It  is  just  what  Valdania  needs  to  re-  , 

store  her  position  among  the  Powers. 

ii5 


CAZ. 

Only  it  will  mean  money 

BARON  GR. 

And  why  not  that  loan  on  the  world-market ? 

CAZ. 

Because — to  tell  the  truth — these  gentlemen  object  to 
your  agency! 

BARON  GR.  [Skirting  suddenly  round  to  face  them, 

with  Oriental  emotion  and  gesture] 
Ah,  Signori!     But  I  owe  Valdania  everything.     My 
wealth,  my  nationality,  my  wife,  my  children,  my  reli- 
gion. 

[Voice  husky  with  tears.] 
In  Germany  I  was  a  pariah;  my  sons  couldn't  have 
been  officers.     And  you  refuse  me  the  opportunity  of 
proving  my  gratitude ! 

FIUMA 

And  increasing  your  profits  1 

BARON  GR. 

No,  Marquis.     The  State  shall  have  my  commission. 

[Wipes  his  eyes.] 
On  my  honour  as  a  Knight  of  the  Redeemer  I 

ROXO 

The  man  seems  genuine.    .    .    . 

[Holds  out  his  hand.] 
Excuse  my  left  hand! 

[The  BARON  grips  it  fervently.] 
116 


But  .  .  .  see  how  I  trust  your  honour — suppose  the 
loan  was  wanted  for  war! 

BARON  GR.  [Ecstatically] 
For  war  against  Bosnavina ! 

ROXO 

Hush !    You  approve  ? 

BARON  GR. 

I  am  enchanted.  It  is  just  what  Valdania  needs  to 
restore  her  position  among  the  Powers.  The  great 
Valdania !  Ah,  how  happy  my  boys  will  be !  The 
dream  of  "The  Day"  is  their  day-dream.  When  are 
we  going  to  get  our  knives  into  those  beastly  Bosna- 
vinians,  they  keep  asking  me.  Only  yesterday  my 
Sigismondo  repeated  the  old  prophecy: 

"When  Rome  yields  up  our  royal  seed, 
Bosnavina  to  death  shall  bleed." 

And  I  thought  to  myself,  surely  it  means  now — the 
Roman  convent  yielding  up  our  beloved  Queen! 
[The  three  look  at  each  other.] 

CAZ. 

Ahem!  Your  reading  may  be — useful.  Though  it  is 
usually  read  to  mean  the  resurrection  of  our  national 
hero,  Alpastroom,  who  was  buried  in  Rome  and  whose 
sword  is  piously  preserved  in  this  very  room. 

BARON  GR.  [Proudly] 
I  know,  I  know. 

[Looking  at  it  over  the  throne.] 
117 


"Who  draws  the  sword  of  Alpastroom 
Writes  our  or  Bosnavina's  doom." 

FIUMA  [Laughing] 

Ha!     Ha!     That  oracle  always  amuses  me.     And  if 

he  fell  in  Rome,  how  comes  his  sword  here? 

BARON  GR. 

Ah,  we  must  not  question  our  old  traditions.  They  are 
the  poetry  of  life.  I'll  'phone  at  once  about  the  news- 
papers and  take  soundings  for  the  loan 

CAZ. 

But  to  build  canals,  etcetera,  remember.  Indeed,  we 
can  always  begin  with  strategic  railways.  What  a 
blessing  in  disguise  the  Queen's  speech  is  proving! 

BARON  GR. 

Your  peace-programme  shall  be  welcomed  in  all  my 
papers. 

[Going.] 

FIUMA 

But  won't  that  be  awkward — if  we  do  get  our  war? 

CAZ. 

Bless  you,  my  young  friend,  the  public  has  no  mem- 
ory. The  head  of  wood,  what?  Ha!  Ha!  Ha!  .  .  . 
Oh,  and  Baron,  let  there  be  telegrams  from  Bosnavina 
on  the  oppression  of  our  co-nationals — school-children 
lashed  for  speaking  Valdanian,  our  women  raped,  and 
so  on.  And — wait  a  moment — the  Gazetta  must  have 
118 


a  leader  on  the  spread  of  Valdanian  culture  through 
the  Balkans 

BARON  GR. 

My   Sigismondo    shall   write   it.      He   is   particularly 
keen  on  our  mission. 

[Exit  R.,  murmuring  unctuously.] 
"When  Rome  yields  up  our  royal  seed " 

FIUMA 

These  Jews  are  incredible.    .    .    . 

[Music  swells.     A  fiery  roll  of  the  drums.] 
Ah  she's  coming! 

ROXO 

They  won't  have  eyes  for  me  now. 

[Rushes  to  balcony  R.  and  peers  down.  Now  only 
a  mere  buzz  of  intense  expectation  comes  up,  to- 
gether with  the  marching  and  the  music. 

My  God!     Fiuma!     He's  there! 

FIUMA  [Rushing  to  join  him] 
Where? 

ROXO 

That   towering   figure — just  where   the   Queen  must 
dismount!     God  help  her! 

FIUMA 

What  can  we  do? 

ROXO 

Rush  your  men  at  once 

119 


FIUMA 

Arrest  him ? 

ROXO 

Not  till  she's  passed.     Wedge  him  in  so  that  he  can't 
move  a  finger. 

[National  Anthem  breaks  out,  as  at  end  of  First 

Act.1 
Quick !     Quick ! 

[As    FIUMA    rushes    down,    CAZOTTI    deliberately 

rushes  up  and  blocks  him  a  moment  on  the  stone 

step.] 

CAZ. 

So  sorry.    .    .    . 

[Rushes  on  balcony.] 
Where  is  he? 

[GUARDS  hurry  in  R.,  munching  and  wiping  their 

mouths.     Distant    cheers    begin,    rolling    rapidly 

nearer.] 

VANNI 

Halt,  swine!     Right  wheel! 

CAZ. 

Her  milk-white  horses  are  red  with  rose-leaves! 

ROXO 

God  grant  it  may  not  be  with  blood. 

[Desperately] 
Where  are  our  men?    Why  don't  they  come? 
120 


CAZ. 

I  can't  bear  to  look. 

[Comes  down  and  sits  on  the  step  with  his  back  to 
ROXO,  his  face  betraying  his  real  hopes.] 

ROXO 

Ah,  there's  our  men!    .    .    .    But  the  soldiers  won't  let 
'em  pass!     God,  damn  their  cabbage-heads! 

CAZ. 

Why  this  silence? 

ROXO  [At  white-heat] 

Another  address!     They've  stopped  the  carriage. 

[Stamps  foot.] 
Corpo  di  Diof    Who  allowed  it? 

CAZ. 

The  Master  of  Ceremonies,  I  suppose.     I  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it. 

ROXO 

Don't  excuse  yourself — who  accuses  you? 

[Looks  again.] 
Damnation!  Little  girls  with  bouquets — she's  kissing 
them,  curse  them! 

[Stamps  foot.] 
Marrobio's  eye  is  focussed  on  her  like  a  burning-glass. 
Oh! 

[Covers  eyes,  then  when  he  re-opens  them  gives  an 

exultant  cry.] 
121 


Ah!     Our  men  have  wriggled  in!     Bravo,  Fiuma! 
Bravo! 

[Claps  hands.] 

CAZ.   [Disconcerted,  dolefully  clapping  hands] 
Bravo,  bravissimo! 

ROXO 

She's  inside!     Ouf! 

[Drops  on  chair  trembling  all  over.] 

CAZ. 

Thank  God! 

[Wipes  his  forehead.] 

[There  is  a  stir  in  the  Palace.  From  either  side 
courtiers  come  trooping  in,  the  duchess  and  her 
maids,  and  other  ladies  of  honour  in  elaborate  and 
fantastic  Court  costumes  not  quite  Western,  some 
wearing  gold  sequins  for  decoration  and  others  long 
ear-rings,  officers  and  aides-de-camp  glittering  with 
epaulettes  and  gold  lace,  Chamberlains,  Comp- 
trollers, Heralds  in  tabards,  Stewards  with  cocked 
hats  and  swords  and  strange  traditional  costumes. 
The  National  Anthem  still  vibrates  in  the  back- 
ground. All  dispose  themselves  looking  towards 
R.  From  the  corridor  comes  the  stir  of  an  advanc- 
ing procession,  and  trumpeters  are  heard  sound- 
ing a  fanfare  on  silver  trumpets.  The  excitement 
mounts  to  fever  heat.  The  gentleman  usher,  a 
magnificently  gilded  being,  enters.] 

122 


USHER 

Way  for  the  Queen! 

[Preceded  by  trumpeters,  equerries,  grooms  and 
other  gentlemen-at-arms,  and  finally  by  two  hal- 
berdiers walking  backwards  with  their  long  staves, 
and  accompanied  by  pages  bearing  bouquets, 
QUEEN  MARGHERITA  enters,  stepping  with  heredi- 
tary dignity,  the  crown  still  on  her  head,  her  arms 
full  of  roses,  and  semi-barbaric  heirloom  jewels 
flashing  from  her  gold-brocaded  gown.  Behind 
her  comes  an  honorary  guard  of  Mohammedan 
Aghas  in  white  kilts  and  scarlet  fezzes,  coats  and 
shoes,  with  great  sashes  stuffed  with  weapons,  and 
between  them  and  the  queen  walk  the  duke 
d'azollo  and  the  countess  cazotti.  The 
countess  is  a  vulgar,  golden-haired  beauty,  evi- 
dently made  up,  the  duke  is  a  white-haired,  courtly 
old  figure  with  an  artistic  face.  He  carries  a  mass 
of  parchment  addresses,  and  his  gold-epauletted 
coat  is  almost  invisible  beneath  decorations.  As 
the  QUEEN  enters,  all  those  already  assembled 
curtsey  or  bow  elaborately.] 

QUEEN  [Smiling  and  drawing  a  long  breath] 

So  that's  over !    .    .    .    Well,   General,  you  see  how 

right  I  was  to  refuse  your  police  escort. 

ROXO   [Beaming] 

Your  majesty  is  always  right. 

QUEEN 

But  you  surely  didn't  need  all  those  soldiers! 
123 


ROXO 

Pure  decoration,  Madam.  By  the  way,  when  will 
Your  Majesty  redeem  your  promise  to  review  them? 

QUEEN 

When  have  I  time?  With  all  those  papers  Cazotti 
makes  me  sign.  Ah,  here  he  is!  How  did  you  get 
here  before  me? 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

That's  just  like  my  husband's  little  ways. 
[Titter  of  courtiers] 

CAZ.   [With  angry  side-glance] 

I  flew,  Madam,  to  welcome  you  home  after  your  Par- 
liamentary success. 

QUEEN 

Then  you  didn't  really  mind  my  little  additions? 

CAZ. 

Mind?  The  Government  has  gratefully  adopted  them. 

QUEEN   [Clapping  hands  girlishly] 

You  make  me  so  happy!     If  only  daddy  were  here  to 

see  how  wrong  he  was! 

CAZ. 

Ah,  but  King  Tito  lived  in  different  times. 

QUEEN  [Clouded] 

King  Tito?     Ah!     Yes,  of  course 

[Bites  her  lips  and  turns  to  DUCHESS.] 
124 


I  am  so  glad  your  headache  is  better.     Your  husband 

has   been  so  kind  with  the   addresses   and  bouquets. 

You'll  put  them  all  in  water,  won't  you,  Marchesa  ? 
[The  DUKE  hastens  to  hand  the  addresses  to  that 
Lady-in-W 'aiting.      The  queen  laughs  a  ringing, 
girlish  laugh.] 

No,  not  those,  dry  as  they  are! 

[The  marchesa  and  the  pages  go  of  with  the  flow- 
ers and  parchments,  save  a  few  roses  retained  by 
the  QUEEN.] 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Your  Majesty  must  prepare  for  the  Banquet. 

CAZ. 

Not  before  pacifying  the  people.     Listen! 

[Cries  of  uMargherita!"  "Margheritaf"  are  com- 
ing up  from  the  Piazza.] 

You  must  show  yourself  a  moment. 

QUEEN 

But  they've  just  seen  me ! 

ROXO 

Quite  so.     Why  expose  yourself  unnecessarily? 

QUEEN 

Those  silly  alarms  again !     I  shall  go  just  to  frighten 

you. 

[CAZOTTI  hurries  to  open  casement  L.  The  QUEEN 
steps  out,  and  the  air  becomes  one  vast  vibration 
"Viva    Margheritaf      Viva    Margheritaf"      She 

125 


comes  in  again,  shaken  with  emotion.    But  the  cries 
redouble.     "Speech!    Speech!"    Between  laughter 
and  crying."] 
Another  Queen's  speech? 

[Laughter  of  the  COURTIERS.] 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

But  my  husband  makes  those  !     Go  along,  Alexis  I 

CAZ.  [In  fierce  whisper] 

Hold  your  tongue ! 

[Enter  BARON  GRIPSTEIN  R.    He  grasps  the  situa- 
tion immediately  and  waves  his  handkerchief.] 

BARON  GR. 

Speech!     Speech! 

COURTIERS  [Waving  handkerchiefs] 
Speech!    Speech! 

[queen  returns  to  balcony.  A  magic  silence  falls.] 

QUEEN  [In  a  clear  but  trembling  voice] 
My  own,  my  dear  people,  I  thank  you  all — Moslems 
and   Christians   alike — for  your  welcome   of  me.      I 
feel  so  happy  to  think  that  after  all  the  years  of  un- 
rest and  blood,  our  country  is  at  peace — at  peace  for 

evermore.     I  thank  God  that  through  me 

[Breaks   down   with  a  sob.      The  countess  CA- 
ZOTTI  starts  forward  with  her  handkerchief.] 
126 


CAZ.  [Aside  to  gripstein] 

Splendid,  that  bit  about  perpetual  peace.  See  it's  re- 
ported. 

[gripstein  scribbles  in  note-book.] 

QUEEN  [Recovering] 

When  at  my  Coronation  I  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to 
your  service,  I  was  afraid  the  burden  would  be  too 
great  for  me.  But  your  love  is  lightening  it.  I 
pray  God  that  I  may  never  lose  that  love  or  your  faith 
in  me,  because  it  is  all  that  I  have  in  the  world — all 

that — that 

[Breaks  into  tears  and  retreats  into  the  room  amid 
frantic  vivas  from  within  and  without.  The  cour- 
tiers shout  and  wave  handkerchiefs.  The  Na- 
tional Anthem  breaks  out  again.  ROXO  closes  the 
casement  in  relief.  The  duchess  and  countess 
rush  to  wipe  the  queen's  tears,  but  the  countess 
wins.] 

QUEEN  [Smiling  through  her  tears] 
It's  just  like  a  first-night  in  New  York! 

CAZ.  [In  icy  reminder] 

So  one  reads,  Your  Majesty. 

ROXO  [Equally  alarmed] 
Her  Majesty  is  tired. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Come,  Madam. 

[The  queen  goes  with  her  L.     MARQUIS  FIUMA 
127 


rushes  in  R.  and  whispers  excitedly  to  ROXO.     The 
queen  turns  with  a  sudden  thought.] 

QUEEN 

Oh,  as  to  that  review,  Roxo- 


[roxo  goes  on  talking;  fiuma  nudges  him.] 
What  are  you  so  absorbed  about? 

ROXO 

Nothing,  Madam,  just  professional. 

QUEEN  [Mockingly] 

More  precautions  on  my  account? 

ROXO 

The  contrary.     Colonel  Fiuma  has  just  captured  the 

last  of  the  Moslem  rebels. 

BARON  GR. 

Marrobio!     The  saints  be  praised.     Bravo,  Marquis. 

QUEEN 

Captured?     But  I  amnestied  them  all. 

ROXO 

This  was  their  leader.    He  wouldn't  accept  your  grace. 

QUEEN  [Smiling] 

Well,  I  dare  say  he  will  now.     But  everybody  seems 
so  pleased,  Fiuma,  I  feel  I  ought  to  give  you  some- 
thing.   The  Order  of  the  Redeemer — Second  Class? 
128 


FIUMA  [Overwhelmed] 
Oh,  Madam,  that  is  too  much! 

[She  extends  her  hand  graciously,  which  he  kisses, 

bowing  low.] 

QUEEN 

And  you,  too,  Cazotti,  you  must  let  me  express  my 
gratitude  for  your  kindness  to-day. 

CAZ. 

Better  wait,  Madam,  till  I  have  carried  out  your  re- 
forms. I  shall  have  the  honour  of  submitting  to  you 
to-morrow  the  members  of  a  roving  Commission  for 
Canals  and  Bridges  under  the  Presidency  of  the  Duke 
D'Azollo. 

QUEEN 

Splendid! 

[Claps  her  hands.     The  courtiers,  led  by  grip- 
stein,  clap  theirs.] 

DUKE  D'A.  [startled] 

Me?     I'm  too  old — I  can't  leave  my  wife! 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

What  nonsense! 
[Laughter.] 

DUKE  D'A.  [Making  a  wry  face] 
Everybody  wants  to  get  rid  of  me. 
129  1 


QUEEN 

You  know  I  shall  miss  you  very  much.      Come,  sit 
down  a  moment,  and  let  me  persuade  you. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

But,  Madam,  your  toilette  for  the  Banquet! 

QUEEN 

I've  only  to  take  off  my  crown  and  do  my  hair.     But 

don't  let  me  keep  anybody  else. 

[Everybody  melts  away  with  backward  bows  while 

the  dialogue  proceeds.'] 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Well,  give  it  to  me  now — it  will  save  time. 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

Excuse  me,  Duchess.     That  is  my  crown. 
[Takes  it  of.] 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Your  Majesty  will  find  me  in  waiting. 
[Exit  with  dignity.] 

QUEEN  [To  countess] 
No,  nothing  else  now. 

[Exit  countess  backward  with  crown.] 
And  there's  no  need  to  keep  your  men  like  toy  soldiers, 
Corporal.     They  can  come  back  for  the  reception. 

VANNI 

God  bless  Your  Majesty.     Right  turn,  march. 

[Exeunt  guards  R.) 
130 


QUEEN 

Why  don't  you  sit  down?  You  know  the  D'Azollos 
have  the  right  to  sit,  even  were  I  standing. 

DUKE  D'A. 

I  am  not  here  as  your  premier  Duke,  but  as  your  pre- 
mier adorer. 

QUEEN 

Oh,  please !  Haven't  I  had  enough  to-day  of  bobbing 
statesmen  and  crawling  councillors,  not  to  mention  the 
poem  declaring  my  face  turns  even  the  sun  to  a  rush- 
light. 

[Laughs  girlishly.'] 
Ha!    Ha!    Ha! 

DUKE  D'A. 

So  it  does,  Your  Majesty. 

QUEEN 

Oh,  do  forget  my  Majesty,  now  we're  alone. 

DUKE  D'A. 

If  I  can  remember  to  forget  it. 

QUEEN 

Ha!     Ha!     Ha!    That's  like  Norah! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Who  is  Norah? 

131 


QUEEN 

Never  mind. 
[Sighs.] 
Dear  Norah! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Now  you're  sad. 

QUEEN    [Recovering  herself] 

Because  you're  so  disobedient.     Sit  down  at  once,  or 

I'll  get  up  and  then  you'll  have  to  melt  away. 

DUKE  D'A. 

Anything  but  that. 
[Sits.] 

QUEEN 

That's  right.  Do  you  remember  my  first  levee?  How 
I  got  up  from  that  thing 

[Points  to  throne] 
to  stretch  my  limbs,  and  everybody  melted  away.  Oh, 
how  astonished  I  was !  Ha  !  Ha  !  Ha  !  Do  you 
know,  the  only  way  I  can  reconcile  myself  to  all  this 
literally  religious  ceremonial,  is  by  reminding  myself 
I  don't  really  exist. 

DUKE  D'A. 

What!     You've  melted  away,  too? 

QUEEN 

As  Queen  I  mean,  I  don't  exist — any  more  than 
dryads  and  naiads  in  ancient  Greence.  They  repre- 
sented the  spirit  of  Nature,  and  I  represent  the  spirit 
132 


of  Valdania — it  is  themselves  my  people  adore  in 
me,  the  greatness  of  their  own  history,  their  heroic 
past What  are  you  smiling  at? 

DUKE  D'A. 

At  your  taking  them  seriously.  It's  their  greatness 
that  doesn't  exist. 

QUEEN 

Oh  surely!  A  thousand  years  of  national  his- 
tory  ! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Of  natural  history — animal  squabbles  and  supersti- 
tions. No  art,  no  letters,  nothing.  A  pity  Italy  has 
never  annexed  us. 

QUEEN 

That  at  least  I  shall  not  take  seriously.  I  know  what 
a  devoted  Regent  you  made ! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Oh  yes,  I  could  do  my  royal  mumming  with  a  grave 
face.  But  I  had  my  royal  robe  cut  with  a  specially 
large  sleeve — to  laugh  in! 

QUEEN 

Then  why  did  you  cry  at  my  coronation? 

DUKE  D'A. 

That's  another  matter.  The  incense  got  into  my  eyes. 
133 


And  there  was  the  organ  music,  the  lovely  hand  hold- 
ing the  sceptre,  the  ecstatic  face 

QUEEN 

I  didn't  feel  ecstatic,  I  assure  you.  When  the  car- 
dinal dumped  the  crown  on  my  head,  it  felt  like  a 
cold  iron  clamp :  the  weight  of  responsibility  turned  me 
sick.  I  nearly  fainted.  And  oh,  how  scared  I  was 
when  I  woke  up  this  morning  and  remembered  I  had 
to  read  Cazotti's  speech  before  all  those  great  minis- 
ters and  officials !  The  dawn  was  just  breaking  over 
the  mountains.    Have  you  ever  watched  the  dawn? 

DUKE  D'A. 

Only  in  landscape-painting. 

QUEEN 

Don't  jest.  It  was  so  beautiful  as  to  be  terrible — like 
God  burning  over  the  virgin  snows.  And  below  slept 
the  city — a  luminous  twinkling  network;  like  a  second 
starry  heaven.  Ah,  how  I  prayed  to  be  worthy  of 
my  people's  trust !  And  then  there  came  into  my 
head  all  that  Valdania  lacks  and  I  resolved  to  put  into 
the  speech  the  things  Cazotti  had  so  strangely  for- 
gotten. 

DUKE  D'A. 

A  very  dangerous  resolve,  my  dear,  for  both  of  us. 

QUEEN 

Do  be  serious,  Duke. 

134 


DUKE  D'A. 

I'm  as  serious  as  the  Duchess.  Queens  who  say  things 
out  of  their  own  heads  are  apt  to  lose  them.  You  are 
moving  in  a  world  of  pitfalls  and  politicians.  Be  con- 
tent to  charm  the  Court  and  give  the  people  a  vision. 
Neither  you  nor  I  were  meant  for  Blue  Books. 

QUEEN 

You  say  that!  You  who  are  always  so  interested  in 
bridges  and  canals ! 

DUKE  D'A. 

When  you  speak  of  them.  I  watch  your  lovely  lips 
like  a  deaf  man. 

QUEEN 
Oh! 

[Rises  indignantly.] 

DUKE  D'A.  [Sitting  stoutly] 

Does  that  mean  I  am  to  melt  away?     But  you  see  I 

exercise  the  privilege  of  the  D'Azollos. 

QUEEN 

You  do  yourself  injustice.  What  about  the  day  we 
saw  all  those  crude  floating  bridges?  Didn't  you  ex- 
plain to  me  that  they  made  the  river  unnavigable  and 
shipping  impossible? 

DUKE  D'A. 

I  meant  how  delightful  it  was  to  escape  the  penny 
steamboats  that  have  ruined  Venice. 

135 


QUEEN  [Collapses  into  chair] 
Oh! 

DUKE  D'A. 

That's  right! 

QUEEN 

But  the  day  our  car  stuck  in  the  river-swamp.  You 
showed  me  how  on  the  Bosnavinian  bank  there  were 
flourishing  cities,  while  on  our  own  side  only  millions 
of  reeds  and  willows 

DUKE  D'A. 

Precisely.  Picturesqueness  plus  immunity  from  in- 
vasion. 

QUEEN 

Invasion!    Why  should  Bosnavina  invade  us? 

DUKE  D'A. 

To  anticipate  our  invading  them,  of  course.  Don't 
they  hold  a  province  of  ours? 

QUEEN 

If  we  drained  that  marshland,  we'd  gain  a  finer  pro- 
vince than  we  lost.  Besides,  all  that  was  before  you 
were  born. 

DUKE  D'A. 

Nations  have  long  memories  as  asses  have. long  ears. 
Aren't  you  still  called  "Duchess  of  Bosnavina,"  though 
we   haven't   set   foot   there   since   the   Middle   Ages. 
Everybody  knows  the  Revenge  is  inevitable. 
136 


QUEEN   [Springing  up  again.] 
I  will  not  hear  of  it! 

[He  rises  too.] 
I  shall  formally  renounce  the  title.     The  Bosnavinian 
Ambassador  specially  congratulated  me  at  the  Corona- 
tion and  said  that  Peace  was  Bosnavina's   supreme 
interest. 

DUKE  D'A. 

And  yet  you  are  not  uneasy? 

QUEEN  [Moves  from  him] 

You  men  are  all  so  cynical.    You  base  politics  on  hate. 

Why  do  you  never  try  Christian  love? 

DUKE  D'A. 

I  suppose  because,  like  radium,  it  can  only  be  got  in 
minute  quantities.  Besides,  one  can't  turn  one's  other 
cheek  to  a  mosquito. 

QUEEN 

The  Bosnavinians  are  not  mosquitoes,  but  children 
of  God  like  ourselves.  And  you  call  yourself  a 
Christian! 

DUKE  D'A. 

I?  Aren't  you  mixing  me  up  with  the  Baron?  The 
Church  is  only  a  State  form — like  your  washing  of  the 
beggars'  feet  at  Easter — after  they  had  been  soaped 
and  scented !  I  never  even  thought  there  could  be  a 
God  till  you  incarnated. 
137 


QUEEN 

Now  you  are  blasphemous! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Religious,  my  dear,  for  the  first  time.  When  you 
talked  of  God  burning  over  the  virgin  snows,  I  felt 
like  one  of  our  mountain-roads  after  a  thaw,  that 
keep  miraculously  amid  their  slush  some  little  patch  of 
purity.  Have  your  way!  I'll  go  and  study  canals  till 
I  die  of  rheumatism  and  boredom. 

QUEEN  [Holding  out  hand  impulsively] 

Oh,  thank  you!     No 

[Laughingly] 

I  don't  mean  you're  to  die.    Ha  !    Ha !    Ha ! 

[He  is  kissing  her  hand  and  she  is  laughing,  when 
a  sudden  shattering  explosion  vibrates  through  the 
Palace.     They  start  apart.] 

What's  that? 

[A  brief  pause.  Then  the  DUCHESS  and  COURTIERS 
run  in  pell-mell  from  L.,  some  of  the  ladies  caught 
in  the  middle  of  their  toilettes,  the  countess 
CAZOTTI  without  her  wig,  revealing  a  comical  grey 
head.  The  duchess  comes  to  nestle  against  her 
husband.  ROXO  and  CAZOTTI  rush  in  together, 
GRIPSTEIN  in  their  rear.] 

ROXO 

Ah,  the  Queen's  safe! 

CAZ. 

Thank  God! 
138 


BARON  GR. 

A  thousand  candles  to  Our  Lady! 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

But  what  is  it?    What  has  happened? 

DUKE  D'A. 

Nothing  to  go  grey  about ! 

[The  countess  claps  her  hand  to  her  head  and 
runs  back  L.] 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

One  for  the  crown.    Thank  you,  dear! 

ROXO  [To  the  queen] 

The  fireworks  stored  up  for  to-night  must  have  gone 

off  in  the  vault. 

QUEEN 

I'm  sure  it's  a  bomb.    I  heard  one  once  in  New 


CAZ.    [Hastily] 

Forgive  my  interrupting  you,  Madam.     But  Fiuma  is 

investigating. 

QUEEN 

I  hope  to  God  nobody  is  hurt.    .    .    .   Ah ! 

[marquis  fiuma  enters  R.  and  whispers  to  roxo.] 
Always  these  whisperings !  Report  to  me,  Fiuma.  A 
bomb,  is  it  not? 

FIUMA 

No,  Your  Majesty,  only  a  hand-grenade. 
i39 


QUEEN 

Anybody  hurt? 

ROXO  [Answering  quickly] 

One  man  killed,  Madam — Corporal  Vanni ! 

QUEEN  [Wincing'] 

Oh!    .    .    .'  Not  the  Corporal  I  just  spoke  to? 

ROXO 

I'm  afraid  it  is. 

QUEEN   [Overwhelmed] 

And  he  said  to  me  as  he  went  out,  "God  bless  you!" 

ROXO 

A  gross  breach  of  discipline!  And  I  gather  that  he 
owes  his  death  to  a  still  grosser  breach.  It  seems  he 
fished  up  the  grenade  from  the  Piazza,  thinking  the 
tin  held  food,  and,  being  interrupted,  put  it  in  his 
pocket  and  forgot  all  about  it,  till  taking  it  out  just 
now 

QUEEN 

Poor  creature ! 

BARON  GR. 

But  he  was  standing  just  here,  General;  we  might  any 
of  us  have  been  killed. 

ROXO 

Precisely. 
140 


BARON  GR. 
Hear,  O  Israel! 

QUEEN 

But  what  demon ? 

ROXO 

Marrobio,  Madam. 

QUEEN 

Marrobio.    And  who  is  Marrobio? 

CAZ. 

The  brute  you  spoke  of  pardoning. 

QUEEN 

The  Moslem  rebel?     But  what  can  be  his  motive? 

ROXO 

It's  a  sort  of  Holy  War  he  preaches.     His  followers 

believe  he  bears  a  charmed  life. 

QUEEN 

Why  was   I   not  told   about  him?     Have  you   ever 
spoken  to  him? 

ROXO 

Not  since  he  was  a  boy.     He  was — about  the  Palace. 

QUEEN 

Then  my  parents  knew  him? 
141 


ROXO  [Embarrassed] 
Er — possibly    .    .    . 

[Cries    of    l<  Margherita"    "Margherita"    break 

dully  from  without.] 
But  the  people  are  calling  for  Your  Majesty. 

QUEEN 

What,  again? 

CAZ. 

They  want  to  see  for  themselves  you  are  safe. 

QUEEN 

What  do  I  matter,  when  that  poor  Corporal ? 


DUKE  D'A. 

Come,  Madam,  it  will  relieve  them. 

ROXO  [To  FIUMA] 

Not  a  word  about  the  wounded! 

[The  duke  opens  the  casement  L.,  and  leads  her 
on  to  the  balcony.  The  reception  is  more  delirious 
than  ever.  The  crowd  starts  singing  the  National 
Anthem.] 

QUEEN  [Coming  in,  shaken] 
It  is  really  very  sweet  of  them ! 

[Cries  of  "Marrobio!  Marrobio!"  now  resound 

from  the  Piazza.] 
What  do  they  want  now? 

FIUMA 

To  lynch  Marrobio. 

142 


QUEEN 

How  horrible !    It's  like  the  South ! 

[Stops  herself  abruptly.'] 
But  you  won't  give  him  up? 

ROXO 

No,  Madam,  we  can  do  our  own  lynching. 

QUEEN 

Not  without  trial? 

ROXO 

He'll  be  lucky  if  it's  without  torture. 

QUEEN 

You  never  torture,  surely? 

ROXO 

Only  to  get  a  confession.     And  this  man  has  publicly 
harried  Your  Majesty's  forces  for  five  years. 

QUEEN 

Where  have  you  put  him? 

ROXO 

For  the  moment  in  the  Palace  dungeon. 

QUEEN 

Has  the  Palace  a  dungeon? 

ROXO 
Naturally. 

i43 


QUEEN 

How  strange !  Things  going  on  around  and  under- 
neath and  one  knows  nothing.  Just  bring  him  up  a 
moment. 

ROXO 

I  beg  Your  Majesty's  pardon? 

QUEEN 

I  want  to  see  this  Marrobio. 

ROXO 

To  see  him?  A  rebel  who  tried  to  blow  up  your 
Palace  ? 

QUEEN 

And  you  are  surprised  I  want  to  ask  him  why? 

ROXO 

To  ask  him  why? 

QUEEN 

Yes,  don't  you  think  it's  best  to  talk  things  out? 
You  have  never  spoken  to  him  since  he  was  a  boy. 

ROXO 

But  this  is  unheard-of.  The  Queen  cannot  come  in 
contact  with  criminals.     It  is  not  her  sphere. 

QUEEN 

Whose  sphere,  then? 
144 


ROXO 
The  Law's. 

QUEEN 

But  am  /  not  the  Law?  Don't  all  your  legal  docu- 
ments begin  "The  Queen  versus "? 

ROXO 

That  is  a  mere  State  form. 

QUEEN 

A  form!  A  form!  The  Church!  The  Law!  Every- 
thing to  you  men  is  a  form.  But  don't  you  see  that 
here — for  once — it  is  a  reality?  The  Queen  versus 
Marrobio !  Even  a  private  plaintiff  may  see  the  de- 
fendant— the  Queen  has  less  rights  than  her  meanest 
subject. 

CAZ. 

Infinitely  greater  rights,  Madam.  She  has  the  pre- 
rogative of  pardon. 

QUEEN 

And  why  should  I  pardon  without  enquiry?  Let  the 
man  be  brought  at  once. 

DUKE  D'A. 

You  are  overwrought,  Madam.    The  explosion 


QUEEN 

Let  me  be  left  with  General  Roxo ! 

[duke  bows,     courtiers  begin  to  melt  away.] 
145  K 


DUCHESS  D'A. 

Your  toilette,  Madam. 

QUEEN  [Stamping  foot] 

Let  me  be  left  with  General  Roxol 

CAZ.  [To  FIUMA] 

Tito's  daughter  begins  to  peep  out. 

[To  QUEEN.] 
I  hope  I  may  stay,  too.    Your  Majesty  raises  a  serious 
constitutional  question. 

QUEEN 

Ah,  you  must  be  two  to  one.    Take  the  Marquis,  take 
the  Baron.     Be  four  to  one! 
[Throws  her  roses  away.] 

FIUMA 

If  Your  Majesty  will  excuse  me,  I  must  see  to  my 
casualties — my  corporal. 
[Bows  and  exit  R.] 

BARON  GR.  [Very  upset] 

Please  don't  count  me  against  you,  Madam. 

QUEEN 

You  treat  me  as  a  divinity,  yet  the  first  simple  thing  I 
ask  of  you,  you  refuse  me.  It's  the  same  when  I  want 
to  talk  to  somebody  on  our  drives — my  ladies  always 
object  to  this  or  that — I  begin  to  think  you  all  have 
something  to  hide  from  me.  Why  are  you  hiding  this 
Marrobio? 
146 


ROXO 

Not  hiding  him,  Madam.  But  it  is  utterly  unprece- 
dented that  a  sovereign 

QUEEN 

The  rulers  of  Israel  always  spoke  with  the  enemy  in 
the  gate.  And  didn't  King  Solomon  judge  cases  him- 
self?   Am  I  not  right,  Baron? 

BARON  GR. 

Oh,  please,  I'm  no  authority  on  ancient  history. 

QUEEN 

I  only  want  to  know  why  he  tries  to  kill  me. 

CAZ. 

But  we  know  quite  well,  Your  Majesty.  He  wants  to 
rule  Valdania,  he  and  his  fellow-Mussulmans. 

QUEEN 

On  what  ground?  ^ 

CAZ. 

He  pretends  they  are  the  largest  sect. 

QUEEN 

And  isn't  it  true? 

CAZ. 

Er — in  a  way. 

QUEEN 

Then  it's  not  so  unreasonable. 

i47 


BARON  GR. 

But  we  Christians  united- 


CAZ. 

And  even  if  they  were  an  absolute  majority,  we  can't 
submit  to  a  degraded  population  whose  children  are 
educated  by  slaves;  to  tyrants  who,  when  they  did  rule, 
seized  the  peasants'  crops  and  wanted  to  abolish  even 
our  Latin  alphabet.  Have  you  ever  been  in  the  Mos- 
lem quarter? 

QUEEN 

My  ladies  always  objected. 

DUCHESS  D'A.  [Who  has  lingered  anxiously] 
Forgive  me,  Madam,  but  your  toilette. 

ROXO  [Looks  at  his  wrist-watch] 

I  implore  Your  Majesty — there's  only  a  quarter  of 

an  hour  to  the  Banquet. 

QUEEN 

Then  why  waste  time? 

CAZ. 

After  all,  General,  where's  the  harm? 

ROXO  [At  white  heat] 

Because  you  let  your  speech  be  altered,  you  think 

[Almost  apoplectic.] 
But  military  procedure  is  sacred! 
148 


QUEEN 

Oh,  very  well. 

CAZ.  and  BARON  GR. 

Thank  you,  Madam. 

QUEEN  [Going  L.] 

I  shall  not  appear  at  the  Banquet. 

ROXO  [Gasping] 
Not  appear? 

QUEEN 

I  am  only  a  State  form.    The  Duchess  can  receive  for 
me. 

DUCHESS  D'A.  [Upset] 
But  what  can  I  say? 

QUEEN 

That  I  have  caught  your  headache. 

[ The  DUCHESS  winces,  bows  and  retires  in  a  rage.] 

ROXO  [Abruptly] 
Have  your  way,  Madam. 

CAZ.  and  BARON  GR. 
Thank  you,  General. 

QUEEN 

Thank  you. 
149 


ROXO 

But  first  we'll  have  the  guard  in — and  doubled. 

QUEEN  [Dismayed] 

Oh,  but  I  can't  talk  before  others.    Which  is  the  way 

to  the  dungeon? 

ROXO 

Go  down  that  slimy  staircase!     In  that  dress!     I'll 
send  for  him. 

QUEEN 

But  I  must  see  him  alone. 

ROXO 

See  Marrobio  alone !     I  shall  resign  first. 

QUEEN  [In  consternation] 
But  why? 

ROXO 

I  am  responsible  for  Your  Majesty's  safety. 

QUEEN 

And  allowed  a  grenade  in  my  guard's  pocket. 

[He  winces.] 
No,  I  beg  your  pardon.     But  you  must  let  me  protect 
myself. 

[Smiles  winningly.] 

ROXO  [Mastering  himself] 

You  shall  see  him  alone.     But  on  my  conditions. 

150 


QUEEN 

Name  them. 

ROXO 

That  Marrobio  is  lashed  to  this  pillar. 

[Points  R.] 
That  you  sit  on  your  throne  and  approach  no  nearer. 
That  the  guards  be  doubled  at  each  entrance.     That 
the  interview  last  five  minutes. 

QUEEN 

Ten. 

ROXO  [Showing  wrist-watch] 
Five. 

QUEEN 

Very  well. 

ROXO 

And  while  Marrobio  is  being — prepared  for  the  in- 
terview— may  I  suggest  that  Your  Majesty's  toi- 
lette  ? 

QUEEN  [Smiling] 
How  practical! 

[Bewitchingly.] 
No  wonder  you  win  wars. 

[ROXO  bows  and  hurries  out  R.] 

BARON  GR. 

O,  Madam,  may  I  have  the  honour  of  escorting  you? 

151 


[Parts  the  hangings  and  shouts  pompously] 
Way  for  the  Queen! 
[Exeunt  L.] 

CAZ.  [Whistling] 

Whew!     What  a  vixen! 

[Walks  about  in  perturbation,  surveys  throne, 
bites  his  nails,  then  trims  them  nervously  with  a 
little  pocket-knife.] 

I  wonder  how  it  feels! 

[Perches  uneasily  on  the  throne  and  darts  of  at 
the  sound  of  ROXO  returning  R.  Enter  ROXO  with 
a  squad  of  soldiers  carrying  ropes;  amid  them 
MARROBIO  stands,  smiling  disdainfully,  a  superb 
type  of  Oriental  manhood  in  green  turban  and 
robes,  with  a  touch  of  the  Prophet  and  something 
of  the  King.  The  soldiers  begin  to  rope  him  to 
the  marble  pillar.  CAZOTTI  approaches  cau- 
tiously.] 

MARRO.  [With  a  terrible  glance] 

Ah,  Cazotti,  Fate  entwines  our  paths  again. 

CAZ.  [Shrinking  back] 

Why  haven't  you  handcuffed  him? 

MARRO. 

Handcuff  me!! 

ROXO 

Rebel  as  he  is,  he  is  a  soldier — and  of  the  blood! 
152 


CAZ. 

But  he  is  serpent  and  tiger  in  one — have  a  care ! 

ROXO 

Don't  be  alarmed.     His  day  is  done. 

MARRO. 

Says  the  poet :  Even  when  dry — The  fish  cannot  die — 
Unless  willed  from  on  high. 

CAZ. 

We  shall  see. 

MARRO. 

If  Allah  willed  it,   so  be  it.     The   mantle   of  life, 
Cazotti,  is  not  always  the  cloak  of  honour. 

[Closing  his  eyes,  he  repeats  piously] 
La  Ilaha  ilia  Allah  Muhammad  Rasul  Allahi! 

[With  a  sudden  bound  he  has  escaped  from  his 
captors,  almost  overwhelming  CAZOTTI  and  is 
nearly  L.  when,  aroused  by  the  shouts,  the  other 
set  of  GUARDS  from  L.  corridor  rush  through  the 
curtains  and  hurl  themselves  at  him.  Even  so,  he 
is  not  easily  overpowered,  and  some  are  about  to 
use  their  scimitars.] 

ROXO 

No,  no  I    Not  steel! 

MARRO.  [Ceasing  to  struggle  as  suddenly  and  fold- 
ing his  arms  with  a  smile] 
Said  I  not  the  fish  would  live? 

153 


CAZ. 

Only  that  Her  Majesty  may  gaze  on  you. 

MARRO.  [Turning  fierce  again] 

To  gloat  over  me?     May  a  div  prick  the  eyes  from 

her  unveiled  visage ! 

[He  stands  passive  now,  with  smouldering  eyes, 
while  they  drag  him  back  to  the  pillar  and  lash 
him  afresh.     ROXO  bends  to  look  at  the  cords.] 

Back,  magician,  would  you  breathe  on  the  knots? 

ROXO 

Fudge!  I'm  only  inspecting  them.  One,  two,  three, 
four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine.  The  devil  himself 
could  not  get  out  of  that. 

MARRO. 

The  Prophet  was  tied  with  eleven  knots,  yet  he  had 
but  to  recite  the  last  eleven  verses  of  the  Ku'ran. 

ROXO 

Recite  away !    To  your  stations ! 

[Soldiers  exeunt,  both  ways.     To  CAZOTTi] 
Would  you  mind  receiving  Her  Majesty?    The  poor 
wounded  are  asking  for  me. 

CAZ. 

There  are  wounded? 

ROXO 

Four,  including  the  Corporal. 

154 


MARRO. 

Ha !     Allah  is  just. 

CAZ. 

I  thought  the  Corporal  was  dead. 

ROXO 

He  may  yet  live. 
[Hastens  out  R.] 

MARRO.  [Uplifted] 
It  is  an  oracle ! 

[He   rises   his   eyes   heavenward   and  commences 

murmuring  his  prayer.] 
I  put  my  trust  in  the  God  of  the  daybreak, 
To  deliver  me  from  the  evils  which  He  hath  created, 
From  the  mischief  of  the  moon  when  she  is  covered 

with  darkness, 
From   the   malevolence   of   those   who   breathe   upon 

knots, 
And  from  the 

[cazotti,    who   has   been   walking  up   and  down 

ponderingly,  now  stops  suddenly  at  the  pillar.] 

CAZ.  [In  a  hoarse  whisper] 

Would  you  like  revenge  and  a  fighting  chance? 

MARRO. 

Hell  mocks  the  mocker. 

[Murmurs  on.] 
I  put  my  trust  in  the  God  of  mankind 

155 


CAZ. 

But  listen!  If  I  cut  your  knots,  will  you  swear  never 
to  betray  or  injure  me? 

MARRO.  [Looks  piercingly  at  him] 

Ha !     Your  fingers,  too,  thirst  for  her  throat. 

CAZ. 

Hush !    Swear ! 

MARRO.  [Solemnly  raising  his  eyes] 
Aksamtu  Billahi! 

CAZ.   [Sawing  at  first  knot] 

Ah,   they're   tough.      But   it's   best  not   to   cut   them 

quite.      You   can    seize   your   moment    for    springing 

at   her.      And   then — the    balcony!      You   know    the 

Palace. 

MARRO.  [With  eyes  heavenward] 
Allah  answers  the  prayer  of  the  faithful. 

[As  CAZOTTI  CUtS.] 

One  .  .  .  two  .  .  .  three  .  .  .  four  .  .  .  five  .  .  . 
six  .  .  .  seven  .  .  .  eight  .  .  .  nine!  Leave  the 
knife ! 

CAZ. 

No!     Look  above  the  throne! 

MARRO. 

Ah,  the  sword  of  Alpastroom !    Allah  is  great ! 
156 


CAZ. 

May    He    prosper    your    hand!    .    .    .   Ho    there! 
Guards ! 

[They    appear    at    both    wings.      MARROBIO    still 

seems  tied  to  his  pillar.] 
Keep  your  eye  on  the  wretch  while  I  inform 

GENTLEMAN  USHER  [Parting  hangings  L.] 
Way  for  the  Queen ! 

CAZ. 

Ah,  she  is  here. 

[Enter  QUEEN,  her  hair  dressed  for  the  Banquet.] 

QUEEN 

Ah,  thank  you,  Cazotti.    See  these  men  are  withdrawn 
— far — beyond  eavesdropping. 

CAZ. 

Under  protest,  Madam. 

[Waves  guards  back  R.  and  L. .  Goes  L.  himself 
toward  QUEEN,  who  seats  herself  on  the  throne.] 

You  see  I  fulfill  the  conditions! 

[cazotti  bows  very  low  and  exits  through  the 
hangings  L.  The  QUEEN  and  MARROBIO  look  at 
each  other,  she  with  curiosity,  and  impressed;  he, 
tense,  with  glittering  eyes,  a  wild  beast  crouched 
for  the  spring.  She  is  the  first  to  break  the  thrill- 
ing silence.] 

So  you  are  Marrobio! 

J57 


MARRO. 

And  you  are  Margherita ! 

QUEEN 

I  wished  to  see  you. 

MARRO. 

You  repaid  my  compliment.     I  left  my  mountains  to 
see  you. 

QUEEN 

And  to  murder  me. 

MARRO. 

With  Allah's  help! 

QUEEN  [Shrinks  back] 
You  glory  in  it! 

MARRO. 

Even  though  I  sup  to-night  in  Paradise. 

QUEEN 

I  came  in  the  hope  of  saving  your  life.     But  this  tone 
on  the  brink  of  death 

MARRO. 

Death  is  as  near  to  your  throne,  Margherita,  as  to  my 
pillar. 

QUEEN 

I  know  we  are  all  in  the  hands  of  God,  but  remember 
you  are  likewise  in  the  hands  of  my  ministers. 

158 


MARRO. 

When  the  cock  crows,  the  eagle  swoops.     Allah  can 
change  night  to  day,  says  the  Book,  and  day  to  night. 

[Glares  bale  fully  at  her,  begins  to  wriggle  at  the 

cut  ropes.-] 
He  can  bring  life  from  the  bosom  of  death  and  death 
from  the  bosom  of  life. 

QUEEN 

But  it  is  you  who  have  brought  death  into  this  Palace. 
Why?    Why? 

MARRO. 

It  is  a  Jihad,  a  holy  war.     Kill  your  foes,  says  the 
Prophet.     Bathe  yourselves  in  their  blood. 

QUEEN 

How  horrible!     Is  that  the  law  of  Islam? 

MARRO. 

And  is  it  not  the  law  of  Roxo?     Whence  comes  his 
glory  save  from  slaying  thousands? 

QUEEN 

In  fair  fight  and  with  fair  weapons. 

MARRO. 

No  fight  can  be  fair,  no  weapon  unfair.    Ma  sha'llah! 
You  to  condemn  Islam — you  with  your  peace-trap ! 

QUEEN 

My  peace-trap? 

159 


MARRO. 

Your  proclamation  of  amnesty.  My  lieutenant  sur- 
rendered and  you  butchered  him. 

QUEEN 

It  is  not  true ! 

MARRO. 

You  lie!  She-dragon  with  the  eyes  of  a  gazelle!  It 
was  your  Coronation  sacrifice  to  your  God. 

QUEEN 

I  swear  by  your  God — by  Allah 

MARRO. 

Astaghfir  Allah!  Profane  not  his  name!  It  may  be 
they  hid  their  infamy,  for  your  eyes  seem  wells  of 
truth  and  your  eyelids  flutter  like  the  wings  of  a  love- 
bird. But  what  of  my  brothers  driven  to  baptism 
or  the  shambles — the  veils  torn  from  our  women — 
the ? 

QUEEN 

By  whom?    When? 

MARRO. 

Through  the  ages.  Only  Da  Pietra  knew  tolerance. 
And  him  you  Christians  murdered. 

QUEEN 

But  they  tell  me  you  Moslems  ruled  even  worse — you 

seized  our  peasants'  crops,  you 

1 60 


MARRO. 

Somebody  must  pay  the  taxes.  But  we  did  not  force 
our  faith  by  the  sword. 

QUEEN 
Mahomet  did. 

MARRO. 

Muhammad  was  God's  messenger.  He  was  later  than 
Moses  or  Jesus — the  seal  of  the  Prophets.  But  Satan 
is  goading  humanity  to  destroy  us.  The  Cross  spreads 
its  giant  arms  over  the  firmament  and  the  Crescent 
dwindles  like  a  dying  moon. 

QUEEN 

Because  you  misgovern !  You  don't  catch  up  with 
Western  civilisation. 

MARRO. 

Western  civilisation!  When  the  Westernmost  Conti- 
nent has  only  just  caught  up  with  our  ban  on  the 
wine-cup.  Western  civilisation!  Have  you  ever  vis- 
ited our  quarter? 

QUEEN 

My  ladies  objected. 

MARRO. 

No  wonder.  There  you  would  have  found  no  rowdy 
streets  filled  with  reeling  wine-skins  and  unveiled 
females,  no  noisy  hawkers  and  shop-keepers,  no  cham- 
161  l 


bers  open  to  the  public  gaze,  only  our  cobblers  and 
coffee-stall  keepers  on  their  carpets,  never  a  knife 
raised,  nor  a  voice,  save  that  of  the  muezzin  calling  to 
prayer  or  the  school-children  chanting  the  Ku'ran. 
Cleanness  of  soul  and  body,  charity,  hospitality,  love 
of  our  neighbour,  equal  chances  for  the  poorest  .  .  . 
And  we  are  the  Gadarean  swine  that  must  be  driven 
out  of  Europe !  Ah,  but  Allah  is  merciful  and  He  has 
set  your  hands  in  murder  against  one  another,  and 
the  sun  of  civilisation  that  rose  in  the  East  is  setting  in 
blood  in  the  West  and  must  rise  again  in  glory  in  its 
ancient  quarter! 

[He  ends  ecstatic,  transfigured.'] 

QUEEN 

If  what  you  say  is  true,  we  have  both  to  learn  from 
each  other.  In  any  case  this  feud  of  Cross  and  Cres- 
cent can  have  no  foothold  in  Valdania.  Does  not  our 
proverb  say: 

Moslem,  Christian,  Jew,  or  other, 
Every  Valdanian  is  my  brother? 

MARRO. 

Your  brother?     Ha!     Ha!     Ha!     But  I  am  your 

brother. 

QUEEN   [Puzzled] 
You  my  brother? 

MARRO. 

Have  they  hidden  that,  too? 

162 


QUEEN 

They  have  hidden  something.  Just  now  when  I 
pressed  the  Duchess,  she 

MARRO. 

You  did  not  know  I  am  King  Tito's  son? 

QUEEN 

You?     My  mother  had  a  son  also? 

MARRO. 

Your  mother?  Nay,  my  mother,  Zarah,  peace  be  to 
her.  She  was  kicked  away  like  an  old  Turkish  slipper 
when  policy  brought  a  Northern  princess  here. 

QUEEN 

My  father  was  married  twice? 

MARRO. 

Nay,  nor  to  two  women  at  once,  my  guileless  gazelle. 
The  pleasures  which  Allah  in  His  mercy  has  per- 
mitted the  faithful  are  not  enjoyed  by  the  infidel — 
openly.  Nor  could  my  mother,  peace  to  her,  consent 
to  marry  a  Nazarene.  I  am  merely  King  Tito's 
eldest-born.  .  .  .  Ah,  you  start  back.  But  the  name 
wherewith  you  Christians  brand  innocent  offspring  is 
an  infamy  unknown  to  Islam. 

QUEEN  [Slowly] 

Then — is  it  you  who  should  be  ruling  here? 

MARRO. 

Nay,  nay,  if  I  rule  here,  it  will  be  by  the  sword. 

163 


QUEEN 

But  what  need  of  the  sword,  brother?  I  would  gladly 
surrender  the  throne. 

MARRO.  [Dazed] 
Yallah!    You  say? 

QUEEN 

If  it  is  yours  morally.  If  God  released  me.  Your 
shoulders  are  broad — it  is  all  too  terrible  and  tangled 
for  a  girl.     I  would  rather  make  my  music. 

MARRO. 

Wallahi!  You  make  music,  indeed.  It  is  like  the  sing- 
ing of  bulbuls  in  my  heart.  What  manner  of  Christian 
are  you  who  talk  like  a  Muslim? 

QUEEN 

I  only  talk  like  every  other  Christian. 

MARRO. 

By  the  beard  of  the  Prophet,  I  have  talked  with  arch- 
bishops and  archimandrites,  patriarchs  and  cardinals, 
but  never  heard  I  talk  like  this.  Ya  JValad!  You 
would  resign  your  throne  to  the  spawn  of  Tito,  the 
rebel,  the  murderer  awaiting  the  gibbet? 

QUEEN 

If  he  would  repent,  if  he  would  render  equal  justice 
to  Moslem  and  Christian? 

MARRO. 

It  is  as  if  the  air  were  full  of  the  perfume  of  myrrh 
164, 


and  rosewater.  But  do  you  imagine,  O  daughter  of 
innocence,  that  if  you  yield  up  that  throne,  your  fellow 
Christians  would  set  me  upon  it? 

QUEEN 

I  could  point  out  to  them  that  your  sect  is  the  largest, 
and  that  on  the  principle  of  self-determination 

MARRO. 

Ha!     Ha!     Ha!     If  I  did  not  know  you  were  my 

father's  daughter,  I  should  say  you  were  an  American. 

QUEEN  [Startled] 
An  American? 

MARRO. 

Was  there  not  a  great  white  prophet  whose  rumour 
reached  even  to  my  mountains?  We  deemed  him  a 
second  Muhammad,  for  through  him  should  the 
People  of  the  Book  find  justice.  But  what  was  the 
end  of  the  matter?  We  are  as  frogs  whose  pond  is 
dried  up!  The  Sheikh-ul-Islam  is  dishonoured,  the 
very  capital  of  our  faith  in  the  hands  of  the  Kafirinf 
Ah! 

[With  renewed  fierceness.] 
What  proof  have  I  that  you,  too,  are  not  a  snake 
whose  slaver  is  steeped  in  honey? 

QUEEN  [Sadly] 

Ah,  /  believe  you.     But  you  will  not  believe  me. 

MARRO. 

Quoth  Lukman  the  Wise :  "Learn  from  the  blind,  who 
165 


believe  only  what  they  touch."     If  you  speak  truth, 
my  sister,  come  and  cut  my  cords. 

QUEEN 

I  have  nothing  to  cut  with. 

MARRO. 

There  is  a  sword  over  your  head. 

QUEEN  [Looking  up] 
That  old  thing! 

MARRO. 

It  will  be  sharp  enough. 

[  The  queen  stands  on  the  throne  and  manages  to 
pull  the  sword  out  of  its  scabbard.  She  gets 
down  and  begins  to  move  forward.] 

QUEEN 

Oh,  but  I  can't  leave  my  throne — I  promised  my  min- 
isters. 

MARRO.  [Derisively] 

Ha !    Ha  !    And  you  offered  to  leave  it  for  me.    Luk- 

man  was  wise  indeed. 

QUEEN 

His  wisdom  was  blind. 

[Calls  towards  hangings.] 
166 


Ho   there !      Is   there   a    chamberlain   or   squire    on 
service  ? 

[cazotti  answers  the  call;  evidently  he  has  been 

on  tenterhooks. ] 

CAZ. 

Can  I  do  anything,  Your  Majesty?    I  have  been  so 
anxious. 

[Startled.] 
You  have  drawn  the  sword  of  Alpastroom ! 

QUEEN 

To  cut  Marrobio's  cords. 

[Hands  it  to  him.     He  takes  it  dazedly.] 

CAZ. 

I  am  to  cut  Marrobio's  cords? 

QUEEN 

If  you  please. 

[The  two  men's  eyes  meet.  CAZOTTI  walks  slowly 
and  nervously  and  pretends  to  slash  at  the  already 
cut  knots.] 

MARRO.  [Counting  as  before] 

One  .   .    .  two  .    .   .  three  .   .    .  four  .   .   .  five  .   .   . 

six  .    .    .  seven  .    .    .  eight  .    .    .  nine. 

[He  throws  off  the  ropes  with  a  tigerish  move- 
ment, and  drags  the  sword  from  cazotti's  hand. 
CAZOTTI  recoils  instinctively,  marrobio  slowly 
walks  over  to  the  queen,  who  awaits  him,  smiling. 
As  he  reaches  the  dais,  and  sees  she  does  not  flinch, 

167 


he  prostrates  himself  at  her  feet,  his  head  in  the 
dust,  his  sword  spread  out  on  the  floor.] 
My  sovereign! 

QUEEN 

Rise,  my  brother! 

MARRO.  [Rising] 

This  sword  that  cut  my  bonds  has  cut  a  covenant 
'twixt  me  and  you.  Henceforth  it  shall  be  sacred  for 
the  defence  of  Your  Majesty's  friends,  for  the  de- 
struction of  Your  Majesty's  foes. 

QUEEN  [Rising  from  the  throne] 
Give  me  the  scabbard! 

[MARROBIO    mounts   dais   and   easily   reaches    the 
scabbard.  He  shows  the  queen  an  inscription  on 

it,  and  she  girds  the  sword  on  him.     While  the 

two  are  thus  absorbed  at  L.,  roxo  enters  hurriedly 

R.,  holding  out  his  wrist-watch.] 

CAZ.  [Who  has  remained  R.] 

Say  nothing!     Marrobio  is  won  over! 

ROXO  [Staring] 
Is  it  possible? 

CAZ. 

Ay,  and  by  giving  him  the  command  against  Bosna- 
vina,  we  get  two  of  your  points  in  one.  Then  with 
Gripstein  supplying  the  money,  and  you  at  the  War 

Office 

168 


ROXO 

Ah,  but  the  fifth  point?  How  make  Bosnavina  de- 
clare war? 

CAZ.   [Picking  up  the  mass  of  cords] 
Trust  Providence  to  cut  that  knot  too. 

[Beckoning  he  throws  the  cords  to  a  GUARD  espied 

R.] 

QUEEN 

Now  you  are  girded. 

[Turns,  perceives  ROXO.] 
Prince  Marrobio  has  consented  to  stay  for  the  Ban- 
quet— he  will,  of  course,  have  the  place  of  honour. 

ROXO 

But,  Madam ! 

QUEEN 

Silence!  I  will  hear  no  more  of  your  miserable  objec- 
tions. I  have  done  more  in  five  minutes  to  bring  peace 
than  you  in  five  years. 

[Turns  her  back  on  him  and  mounts  haughtily  to 

her  throne.] 

ROXO   [To  CAZOTTI] 

It  is  intolerable.     I  shall  resign. 

CAZ.  [Smiling] 

Naturally.    To  go  to  the  War  Office.    For,  fifthly  and 

finally 

169 


ROXO  [In  a  low,  awestruck  voice] 

You  are -right.     She  gives  a  bastard  Mussulman  the 

place  of  Prince   Condrexoulok.     It  is  the  finger  of 

God. 

GENTLEMAN  USHER  [Appearing  R.] 
Is  Your  Majesty  ready  to  receive? 

QUEEN 
Quite. 

[To  marrobio,  who  begins  to  move  down.] 
Remain  at  my  right  hand,  brother. 

[Curtain] 


170 


Act  III 

[The  Throne  Room  in  the  San  Marco  Palace  as  be- 
fore, save  that  a  fire  of  logs  is  burning  on  the  great 
hearth  and  two  captured  Bosnavinian  flags  hang  on 
the  wall  in  place  of  the  sword  of  Alpastroom,  and 
if  ever  the  casement  is  opened,  the  mountains  are 
seen  snowy  to  their  base.  At  a  table  drawn  up 
near  the  fire,  the  duchess  d'azolla  and  various 
maids  OF  HONOUR  are  making  bandages.  They  are 
drably  attired:  some  in  mourning,  and  one  in  the 
Red  Cross  costume.  At  R.  the  old  line  of  smart, 
stalwart  soldiers  is  replaced  by  a  collection  of  aged 
or  decrepit  civilians  in  ill-fitting  uniforms,  under 
CORPORAL  VANNI,  now  minus  his  right  arm.  For 
an  instant  the  ladies  work  in  silence,  then  faintly 
through  the  closed  casement  comes  the  high  clear 
cry  of  the  muezzin  from  the  nearest  minaret.] 

MUEZZIN  [From  afar] 

Allah  Akbar  la  ila  ha  ilia  Allah    .    .    . 

[Two  of  the  soldiers  prostrate  themselves.] 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Fifteen  o'clock  by  the  minaret. 

[Rising.] 
I  am  afraid  we  oughtn't  to  waste  these  candles,  and 
we  shall  spoil  our  eyes  if  we  work  much  longer. 

[As  the  ladies  gather  up  the  work,  a  church-bell 

chimes  three.] 
Put  back  the  table,  Corporal. 
171 


VANNI  [Motioning  to  his  men  to  obey] 
I  have  only  one  arm  now,  Your  Highness. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Ah,  poor  fellow.     I  hope  it's  not  paining  you. 

VANNI 

Not  when   I   look  at  those   captured   flags   and   my 

brother-in-law's  letter. 

DUCHESS  D'A.  [Eagerly] 
From  the  front? 

VANNI 

Yes,  but  I  never  found  it  till  I  came  out  of  hospital 

this  morning. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Ah,  then  the  news  will  be  stale.     Thank  you. 
[Exit  with  ladies  L.] 

VANNI  [Prodding  the  praying  Mussulmans  with  his 

foot] 
That's  enough,  you  holy  fakirs. 

[Goes  and  opens  casement  R.] 

Br-r-r!     Come  along,  you  stinking  Pacifist. 

[VITTORIO,   a  decrepit-looking  old  soldier  with  a 
scholarly  face,  comes  in,  blowing  his  fingers.] 
Hurry  up,  Abdullah,  or  I'll  catch  my  death. 

[One    of   the   Moslem   goes    out   to    replace    the 

guard.] 
You  know  what  you  have  to  look  out  for — the  Rol- 
172 


menian  envoy — blue  and  gold  uniform,  white  cocked 

hat. 

[Closes  casement.] 

Atschew!     Hi  there! 

[To  vittorio,  who  has  sneaked  to  warm  his  fin- 
gers at  the  fire.] 

Get  to  your  rank,  you  swine. 

VITTORIO 

I  won't  be  called  a  swine. 

VANNI 

Silence,  or  I'll  rip  you  up  like  one,  you  black-snouted 
son  of  a  sow.  You're  a  pro-Bosni,  that's  what  you 
are,  a  beastly  Bolshevist.  D'you  think  I  haven't  heard 
of  the  sing-song  you  wrote  about  brotherhood? 
Brotherhood  with  Bosni  butchers!  Ugh!  Stand  at 
attention,  you  spy! 

VITTORIO 

I  am  a  gentleman  and  I  shall  complain  to  the  War 

Office. 

VANNI 

Gentleman !  You're  lucky  to  be  conscripted  and  get 
decent  rations,  when  other  gentlefolk  are  glad  of  dry 
barley-bread.  Ah,  here  comes  the  War  Office.  Com- 
plain, if  you  dare! 

[Enter  general  roxo  R.,  with  a  portfolio  under 
his  only  arm.  Salute.  He  is  not  wearing  his  dec- 
orations and  walks  bent  and  tottering — VITTORIO 
steps  from  the  ranks,  hesitates,  ROXO  disappears.] 
173 


VANNI  [Mockingly] 

Ha!     Ha!     Ha!     Ha!     Ha! 

VITTORIO 

It's  only  because  he  looks  so  broken. 

VANNI 

Broken,  you  beastly  defeatist!  It's  his  arm  worrying 
him,  that's  all.  I'd  gladly  give  him  mine,  only  then 
he'd  have  two  lefts  and  that  wouldn't  be  right. 

SOLDIERS  [In  parasitic  laughter] 
Ha!    Ha!    Ha!    Good! 

VANNI 

Have  I  made  a  joke?    Ha!    Ha!    Ha!    Ha! 
[ROXO  re-appears  L.    Laughter  frozen.] 

ROXO 

I  nearly  forgot,  Corporal.     Where  is  your  look-out? 

VANNI 

On  the  balcony,  my  General. 

ROXO 
You  lie! 

VANNI 

No,  my  General! 

ROXO 

I  beg  your  pardon.  But  how  was  it  when  I  looked  up 
from  the  Piazza ? 

174 


VANNI 

We  were  just  changing  the  guard. 

ROXO 

Aha!     So  you  did  leave  the  Piazza  unwatched! 

VANNI 

Only  for  an  instant. 

ROXO 

In  that  instant  the  Rolmenian  envoy  might  have  driven 
up.  The  new  look-out  must  mount  guard  before  the 
old  is  relieved. 

VANNI 

Yes,  my  General. 

[Exit  ROXO.] 
Ah,  he  is  a  wonderful  man.  Nothing  escapes  him. 
The  comrades  in  the  hospital  chaffed  me  about  copying 
his  arm.  But  Dio,  if  I  could  copy  his  brain.  Cristof 
The  way  he  manoeuvred  the  Bosnis  into  our  river- 
marshes,  while  he  rushed  across  and  took  Ripo ! 

VITTORIO 

That  was  Marrobio. 

VANNI 

Yes,  but  where  did  the  strategy  come  from?  Dio,  if  I 
could  have  heard  'em  screaming  and  gurgling  as  they 
sank  slowly  in  the  sucking  mud!  My  brother-in-law 
writes  you  could  see  hands  clawing  above  the  mud 
days  after 

175 


VITTORIO  [Looking  ghastly] 
Don't. 

VANNI 

And  what  about  my  hand  that  they  blew  off!  Don't 
say  that  was  Marrobio,  too.  As  if  our  General  would 
cripple  his  own  soldiers.  No,  no — it  was  one  of  those 
naturalised  Bosnis  we  so  confidingly  gave  papers  to! 
But  we've  got  'em  all  interned  now,  these  friends  of 
yours,  and  they'll  no  more  come  out  alive  than  out 
of  that  mud! 

SOLDIERS 
Ha!    Ha!    Ha! 

VANNI    [Beaming] 

Ah,  the  fun  when  we  took  Ripo !  My  brother-in-law 
with  one  bayonet  spiked — but  read  it  for  yourself, 
Vittorio,  rub  your  nose  in  it. 

[Forces  letter  on  vittorio,  who  reads  with  grow- 
ing horror.] 
And  the   Bosni   women,   eh,  boys?     Some  of  course 
asked  for  nothing  better. 

[soldiers  laugh.] 
Ah,  it's  a  man's  life,  he  says:  Why  go  back  to  brooch- 
making  when  you  can  make  necklaces  of  Bosni ! 

[VITTORIO  falls  fainting,  the  letter  gripped  in  his 
hand.] 
Hi !    What's  this?    Get  up,  you  old  woman! 

[Spurns  him  with  his  foot.] 
Time  you  got  your  blood-legs!     Attention!      Cover 
him ! 
176 


[  The  SOLDIERS  stand  in  front  of  their  fallen  com- 
rade to  conceal  him,  and  CAZOTTI  enters  R.  with 
portfolio,  and  the  same  harassed  look  as  ROXO. 
He  has  nearly  crossed  the  scene  when  he  turns.] 

CAZ. 

Corporal! 

VANNI 

Yes,  excellency. 

CAZ. 

Should  the  Rolmenian  envoy  arrive  while  I  am  at  the 
Privy  Council 

VANNI 

I  am  to  send  him  to  you — I  understand. 

CAZ. 

No,  you  don't!  And  don't  have  the  impertinence  to 
interrupt. 

VANNI  [With  crawling  humility'] 
A  thousand  pardons. 

CAZ. 

Her  Majesty  will  be  at  the  Privy  Council,  and  she'd  be 
disturbed  to  see  the  envoy.  The  moment  your  look- 
out espies  him,  a  chamberlain  must  come  and  say  a 
crisis  demands  my  immediate  presence. 

VANNI 

I  understand. 

177  m 


CAZ. 

Be  careful  you  do,  this  time. 

VANNI 

I  am  careful,  excellency.  I  always  post  a  new  look- 
out before  the  old  goes  off  guard. 

CAZ. 

Admirable !  I  shall  not  forget  your  zeal.  But  when 
the  light  on  the  balcony  fails,  post  him  at  the  Palace- 
gate! 

VANNI 

Sicuro,  excellency. 

[Exit  cazotti.      The  men  turn  to   examine   the 

fallen  GUARD.] 
Ah,  you've  come  to !  And  I  suppose  you'll  be  writing 
that  we  cut  off  Bosni  ears.  But  it's  only  trophies  to 
bring  home  to  the  girls,  stupid!  The  Bosni  officers, 
they  slice  off  the  ears  of  their  own  men  to  get  the 
cowards  to  advance.  Up  with  you,  Vittorio,  you'll 
want  some  fresh  air  after  your  faint — get  back  on 
guard,  do  you  hear? 

[Opens  casement.] 
Come  along,  Abdullah,  you're  relieved. 

VITTORIO 

And  so  am  I — of  such  society! 
[Throws  letter  at  him.] 

VANNI 

I'll  court-martial  you  for  that! 

178 


[A  parasite  picks  up  the  letter  and  hands  it  to 
VANNI,  and  the  two  GUARDS  exchange  places  while 
he  is  talking  on.] 
Corpo  di  Baccof  There's  scarcely  a  brat  of  sixteen 
but  has  got  his  chance  of  Bosni-sticking,  while  I'm 
cooped  up  here  with  the  queerest  collection  of  crocks 
that  ever  disgraced  Her  Majesty's  uniform.  And  any 
day  now  Marrobio  may  be  looting  the  Bosni  capital. 
Lucky  beggars !     Lucky  beggars ! 

[Enter  COLONEL  the  MARQUIS  FIUMA,  haggard  like 
the  others,  his  hair  lavishly  sprinkled  with  grey; 
crape  on  his  sword  and  on  his  arm.    Salute.] 

FIUMA 

You    know   their   eminences,    the    Cardinal   and   the 
Patriarch? 

VANNI 

Yes,  my  Colonel — by  their  holy  clothes.     They  came 

an  hour  ago. 

FIUMA 

They  are  not  to  leave  the  Palace. 

VANNI 

Prisoners,  my  Colonel? 

FIUMA 

Oh,  no- 


[Smiling  sadly] 
Detained    at    Her    Majesty's    pleasure.      The    War 
Office's  order,  say.    They  may  have  to  sleep  here. 
179 


VANNI 

I  will  have  a  watchman  posted  all  night  at  the  Palace- 
gate. 

FIUMA 

Excellent.    I  shall  remember  your  zeal. 

[Enter  L.  CAZOTTI  in  a  raging  passion,  waving  a 
newspaper.'] 

CAZ. 

Perdition,  Colonel!  Is  this  the  way  you  censor? 
Look  at  that  filthy  rag  smuggled  into  the  Queen's 
blotter  at  the  Council-Table! 

FIUMA  [Taking  it] 

The  Sera!    But  this  was  never  submitted  to  me! 

CAZ. 

Not  submitted?  Good  God!  Then  it  is  Revolution! 
Withdraw  your  men,  Corporal,  well  back! 

VANNI 

Yes,  excellency. 

[Signals.     They  withdraw  R.] 

CAZ. 

Read  it — read.it  aloud — the  letters  dance  before  my 
eyes.    Sit  down. 

FIUMA 

I  can't  sit — oh,  excellency,  if  you  knew  how  it  racks 
me  to  think  of  my  friends — the  few  not  killed — freez- 
ing in  Bosnavina,  while  I  in  warmth  and  safety ! 

1 80 


CAZ. 

It's  not  so  blasted  warm  and  it  won't  be  so  very  safe 
once  this  wretched  article  rouses  the  people.  Sit  down. 
We  need  you,  Roxo  and  I. 

[fiuma  sits,  too,  though  he  soon  rises  again.] 
Ah,  I  knew  something  was  in  the  wind — the  moment  I 
saw  coloured  rags  fluttering  on  the  Moslem  houses 
near  the  railway  station. 

FIUMA 

In  the  wind — is  it  a  pun? 

CAZ. 

Good  God,  no!  Don't  you  know  the  Moslem  super- 
stition? Those  living  near  a  cemetery  always  hang 
out  bits  of  cloth.  What  the  scoundrels  mean  to  sug- 
gest is  that  the  station  where  our  soldiers  entrain  is  a 
cemetery.  And  if  they,  who  are  so  proud  of  their 
Marrobio, 'venture  on  this  rebel  sally — no  wonder  the 
Christians — but  read,  read! 

FIUMA 

Headline :  "Stop  the  War"— "Yesterday's  Day  of  In- 
tercession and  Prayer  for  Victory  celebrated  in  all  the 
churches,  synagogues  and  mosques  of  Valdania " 

CAZ. 

Ah,  what  did  I  tell  Roxo?  If  you  say  "God  help  us," 
people  know  it's  all  up.    .    .    .    Excuse  me. 

FIUMA 

"While  it  emphasised  the  unity  of  the  country  under 

its  unexampled  tribulations   ..." 

181 


CAZ. 

Cut  the  cackle.    Time  presses. 

FIUMA 

Er — er — "Eight  thousand  men  have  been  blinded  by 
chips  of  granite  blown  off  the  mountains  of  Bosnavina, 
but  still  more  tragic  is  the  blinding  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple by  the  Government  and  the  Jew-press." 

CAZ. 

Poor  old  Baron! 

FIUMA 

"As  a  matter  of  fact  these  first  victories  have  been 
followed  by  overwhelming  defeats.  Despite  three 
desperate  attempts  to  take  the  pass — the  gallantry  of 
which  does  not  compensate  for  the  terrible  casualties 
— Marrobio  had  to  retire  on  Ripo.  But  the  enemy, 
re-pouring  through  the  pass,  recaptured  the  town,  and 
now  holds  us,  foodless,  frost-bitten  and  pneumonia- 
ridden,  with  our  backs  to  the  swollen  river." 

CAZ. 

Abominable!  There  must  be  leakage  at  the  War 
Office. 

FIUMA 

But  if  it  is  true ? 


CAZ. 

You,  a  censor,  say  that!     Truth  is  always  dangerous, 

in  war  it  is  suicidal.     Is  that  all? 

182 


FIUMA 

Not  quite.  "A  glance  at  the  uncleared  snow  in  our 
streets  will  remind  our  readers  that  the  period  of 
mountain  fighting  is  over  for  the  year.  Our  utmost 
hope,  therefore,  is  to  escape  annihilation,  whether  at 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  or  in  attempting  to  regain 
Valdania  across  the  bridgeless  flood."  The  Queen 
was  right,  you  see.     If  we  had  built  bridges 

CAZ. 

There  are  so  many  things  the  Queen  wanted  that 
would  have  come  in  handy  for  war.  More  railways, 
for  instance,  and  if  we  had  had  wireless  apparatus,  we 
shouldn't  have  been  cut  off  from  the  front  for  two  days 
by  this  snowstorm,  not  to  mention  we  should  know 
where  the  Rolmenian  envoy  was.  But  you  young 
bloods  wouldn't  wait! 

FIUMA   [Too  broken  to  retort] 
It  winds  up :  "Let  us  stop  the  war  while  some  of  our 
sons  still   survive   to   carry   on  our  ancient  valorous 
breed."     "Valorous  breed!"     How  these  Pacifists  con- 
tradict themselves! 

CAZ. 

It's  more  important  that  they  contradict  us. 

FIUMA 

.  What's  to  be  done? 

CAZ. 

Roxo  is  already  ordering  the  arrest  of  the  staff  and 
the  break-up  of  the  printers'  plant.     And  the  Press 

183 


Bureau  is  sending  out  a  statement  that  the  retreat  was 
strategic,  according  to  plan. 

FIUMA 

But  that  won't  alter  the  facts. 

CAZ. 

Oh,  yes,  it  will.  Facts  don't  exist  till  they're  believed. 
When  the  wires  are  repaired,  we  may  learn  the  game's 
up.     But  for  the  moment  we  remain  unbeaten. 

FIUMA 

Is  that  all  that  lies  between  us  and  ruin?  Roxo  was 
so  sure  Marrobio 

CAZ. 

Even  genius  can't  do  the  impossible.  Marrobio's  in- 
vasion of  Bosnavina  was  premature.  Roxo,  when  he 
ordered  it,  was  counting  on  the  two  million  Valdanians 
there  rising  up  and  joining  us. 

FIUMA 

But  why  haven't  they,  do  you  suppose? 

CAZ. 

It  turns  out  they  have  no  grievances. 

FIUMA 

No  grievances?    They  weren't  martyrised? 

CAZ. 

No — in  one  thing  this  rag  was  right — we  were  misled 

by  the  Jew-press. 

184 


FIUMA 

To  which  you — excuse  my  reminding  you — dictated 
atrocities. 

CAZ. 

I  had  heard  them  in  my  childhood  from  my  grand- 
father. 

FIUMA 

But  those  false  telegrams  of  yours  stirred  up  reprisals 
against  the  Bosnavinians  here. 

CAZ. 

Yes,  they  were  useful  in  kindling  the  war-spirit.  But 
they  were  never  meant  as  data  for  the  War  Office. 
Roxo  should  have  checked  them.  But  it  is  wonderful, 
the  power  of  print.  I  believed  them  myself  when  I 
read  them.     Even  the  Baron  believes  his  own  papers. 

FIUMA 

Poor  Baron !     How  marvellously  he  bears  up  under 
his  bereavements! 

CAZ.    [Rising] 

Like  Roxo,  he  trusts  in  God.    But  I  say,  keep  your  fire- 
works dry. 

[Going  L.] 
The  Palace  must  blaze  with  lights  to-night  and  the 
streets,  too. 

FIUMA 

But  we  may  be  in  darkness  next  week. 
185 


CAZ. 

No  matter.     We've  got  to  play  for  time.     The  cine- 
mas must  show  our  soldiers  escalading  the  pass.     Keep 
the  bonfires  burning  and  the  rockets  always  ready. 
[Moving  further  L.] 

FIUMA 

But  ready  for  what? 

CAZ.   [Roguishly] 

Aha  1  Go  along  now :  you've  plenty  to  see  to.  I 
thought  you  knew  my  motto,  "One  combination  after 
another."  By  the  way,  impress  upon  the  telegraph 
people  to  keep  the  line  to  Rolmenia  clear.  It's  a  mat- 
ter of  life  and  death. 

FIUMA 

Ah,  I  can't  help  seeing  your  hope  lies  in  Rolmenia. 
But  how?  Rolmenia  is  Bosnavina's  secret  ally.  But 
for  Bosnavina  being  the  attacker,  Rolmenia  would 
have  had  to  join  her.     How,  then,  can  she  join  us? 

CAZ.  [Smiling] 

Ah,  that's  the  puzzle ! 

[Enter  roxo  L.] 
You're  looking  for  me? 

ROXO 

I  didn't  want  to  go  back  to  the  Council  before  dis- 
cussing what  to  tell  the  Queen.     She  didn't  really  be- 
lieve your  contradiction. 
1 86 


CAZ. 

It  was  meant  only  for  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet.  You 
can't  trust  them,  or  anyhow  their  secretaries.  But  so 
far  as  she  is  concerned,  this  rag  may  be  a  blessing — 
make  it  easier  for  us. 

ROXO 

You  would  tell  her  the  whole  truth — in  her  state? 

CAZ. 

The  blacker  she  feels  things  the  better — follow  out 
your  own  combination. 

ROXO 

You  are  right,  as  usual. 

CAZ. 

And  you  were  wrong,  as  usual,  to  stir  up  sleeping  dogs 
with  that  Intercession  Service. 

ROXO 

At  such  a  critical  moment  we  must  go  to  God. 

CAZ. 

And  make  it  more  critical? 

ROXO 

Prayer  is  a  reconciliation  with  heaven.  Not  forty  per 
cent  of  our  male  adults  go  to  Mass. 

CAZ. 

You  forget  that  our  leader  and  our  largest  sect  are 
187 


Mussulmans,  and  pray  five  times  a  day.  But  if  we 
don't  get  back  to  the  Council,  we  may  find  Her 
Majesty  has  stopped  the  war. 

ROXO 

I  can't  smile.  It  is  too  serious  a  possibility.  We  must 
get  the  Council  over,  so  as  to  get  to  business. 

BARON  [Outside  R.] 

My  poor  Corporal,  glad  to  see  you  back! 

CAZ. 

Ah,  I  want  a  word  with  the  Baron.     I  follow  you. 

ROXO 

But  I,  too,   want  the   Chairman  of  the   Man-Power 

Board. 

[Enter  BARON,  in  deep  mourning:  a  broken  man.] 

BARON  GR. 

Ah,  excellencies,  was  it  not  beautiful  yesterday  in  the 
cathedral?  My  slain  son,  my  blinded  Sigismondo,  my 
wife  dead  of  grief,  the  whole  terrible  burden  was 
lifted  from  my  heart.  I  felt  the  God  of  Valdania 
would  not  desert  His  people. 

ROXO  [Grasping  his  hand] 

Amen.    .    .    .    How    many    more    divisions    can    you 

promise  Marrobio? 

BARON  GR. 
Not  one,  alas  I 


ROXO 

You  have  combed  to  the  last  man? 

BARON  GR. 

And  the  last  boy.      Outside   indispensables  the   only 
man  left  under  55  is  the  Marquis  Fiuma. 

ROXO 

For  heaven's  sake,  don't  tell  him  that! 

BARON  GR. 

As  your  excellencies  know,  I  have  conscribed  all  our 

neutrals,  though  it  is  against  the  Constitution. 

CAZ. 

Yes,  yes — would  you  please  put  all  this  in  writing  for 
the  Queen? 

BARON  GR.  [Startled] 
You  are  telling  her  the  truth? 

CAZ. 

It  can't  always  be  avoided.     Haven't  you  seen  this? 

BARON  GR.  [After  a  hasty  glance  at  paper] 
God  of  Israel!    .    .    .    I  saw  great  crowds  with  it,  but 
I  didn't  dare  to  be  seen  buying  it.    .    .    .    But  it's  not 
true! 

CAZ. 

That's  what  your  papers  are  going  to  say.    But  it  is — 

every  word. 

189 


BARON  GR. 

Our  poor  Margherita !  Think  of  the  pride  and  glory 
of  the  day  when  as  Colonel  of  the  Queen's  Hussars 
she  bade  Godspeed  to  the  army — the  cheers,  the  bells, 
the  flowers,  the  songs,  the  flags !  How  did  this  horrible 
fiasco  come  about? 

ROXO 

It's  our  own  Valdanians,  Baron,  our  two  million  Val- 
danians  in  Bosnavina,  who  had  forgotten  their  pa- 
triotism, forgotten  their  mother  tongue,  forgotten  the 
rock  whence  they  were  hewn,  who  even  boast  of  being 
Bosnavinians. 

BARON  GR. 

How  horrible!  I  have  lain  awake  night  after  night, 
puzzling  how  to  get  more  men,  but  the  only  thing  I 
can  think  of  is  mercenaries.  There  are  shoals  of 
Italians  labourers  who  go  over  to  America  for  a  sea- 
son.    They  would  be  happier  fighting. 

CAZ. 

But  the  money,  dear  friend,  the  money? 

BARON  GR. 

My  last  million  is  freely  at  your  disposal.  God  knows 
I  have  little  to  live  for  but  the  glory  and  happiness  of 
my  country. 

ROXO  [Moved] 

You  shall  yet  witness  it.     Tell  him,  Cazotti — tell  him 

everything! 

[Exit  L.] 
190 


BARON  GR.    [Brightening] 
There  is  hope? 

CAZ. 

Yes,  but  first  a  little  private  business. 

[Lowers  voice.] 
Have  you  succeeded  in  depositing  my  securities? 

BARON  GR. 

Yes,  with  a  man  in  Amsterdam. 

CAZ. 

But  is  he  a  Jew? 

BARON  GR.  [Apologetically] 
I  couldn't  find  anybody  else. 

CAZ. 

I  wouldn't  trust  anybody  else. 

BARON  GR. 

Ha !    He  is  even  a  practising  Jew — a  mediaeval  bigot ! 

CAZ. 

Still  better.     A  man  who  sticks  to  his  religion  won't 
stick  to  my  money !    .    .    .    No  offence,  Baron.     Hush, 
here's  Fiuma  back.     So  that's  understood. 
[Enter  fiuma  R.] 

FIUMA 

The  wires  are  just  mended  and  the  line  for  Rolmenia 
is  clear,  subject,  of  course,  to  delay  at  Belgrade.  The 
191 


post-offices,  they  say,  are  besieged  with  people  de- 
manding to  wire  to  the  front. 

CAZ.   [Crumpling  the  newspaper] 
Ah,  the  poison  works ! 

[Enter  R.,  the  COUNTESS  CAZOTTI,  tripping  it  gaily 

in  a  bewitching  nurse's  uniform.] 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

Ah,  there  you  are,  you  men,  gossiping  as  usual,  while 
I'm  slaving  for  our  poor  wounded.  And  it's  the  same 
in  the  streets,  my  car  had  to  crawl.  Ah,  how  tired  I 
get  every  evening. 

CAZ. 

But,  my  dear,  the  Queen  offered  to  relieve  you  of  your 

duties. 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

As  if  I  would  fail  Her  Majesty!  Ah,  Baron,  you 
don't  make  enough  of  us  women.  There's  no  Woman- 
Power  Board,  what? 

FIUMA 

Because  the  power  of  woman  is  incalculable. 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

How  charming  of  you !  But  it's  just  what  my  patients 
tell  me.  I'm  the  only  thing,  they  say,  that  reconciles 
them  to  being  out  of  the  fighting. 

FIUMA  [Exalted] 
They  long  to  be  back? 
192 


COUNTESS  CAZ. 

They  cry  if  I  only  mention  the  trenches ! 

FIUMA 

That  ought  to  be  stated  in  the  papers,  eh,  Baron?  It 
would  give  the  country  a  fillip. 

BARON  GR. 

I  haven't  much  time  for  my  papers  now.  But  I'll  see 

to  it. 

COUNTESS  CAZ. 

I  have  seen  to  it.  I've  been  interviewed  in  them  all. 
Don't  you  read  them?  While  you  cackle,  I  work. 
"The  Queen  of  Workers"  they  always  put  under  my 
picture. 

[Enter  ROXO  excitedly  L.] 
Ah,  here  comes  another  prattler.     Excuse  me,  Gen- 
eral, I  haven't  time. 

[Consequential  exit  L.] 

ROXO 

Guard  your  Palace,  Governor. 

FIUMA 

What  has  happened. 

ROXO 

Barricade  your  doors  first. 
[fiuma  rushes  out  R.] 

193  n 


CAZ. 

You've  left  the  Council  again? 

ROXO 

To  call  out  the  troops  and  the  machine  guns.  The 
printers  can't  be  arrested — the  offices  are  blocked  by 
a  desperate  mob,  largely  women. 

CAZ. 

Ah,  I  told  Saldo  it  was  a  mistake  to  close  the  schools 
for  the  sake  of  the  fuel — the  worry  of  the  children, 
taken  on  the  mothers'  empty  stomachs — ah,  listen ! 
[Confused  sounds  from  the  Piazza.'] 

ROXO 

They're  only  in  small  groups  so  far — they  know  meet- 
ings are  prohibited.  The  Piazza  is  black  with  dema- 
gogues, each  on  his  tub. 

BARON  GR. 

Is  it  Bolshevism  at  last? 

ROXO 

Hardly.     A  few  in  red  caps  or  cockades.      But  the 

wearers  are  aged. 

CAZ. 

It's  lucky,  Baron,  we've  no  Man-Power  left.    What? 
{Re-enter  FIUMA  R.~\ 

FIUMA 

My  men  had  already  done  the  barricading.     There 

was  a  nasty  surge  towards  the  Palace. 

194 


ROXO 

Ah,  the  groups  coalescing.     I  pray  God  we  shall  not 

have  to  fire  on  them. 

BARON  GR. 

You  would  fire  on  your  own  people? 

ROXO 

I  would  fire  on  my  own  father,  if  duty  demanded. 
May  I  suggest,  Baron,  you'd  be  more  useful  motoring 
down  to  your  evening  paper  to  hurry  up  the  reassuring 
edition?  Interview  yourself  and  say  we  have  a  mil- 
lion fresh  men. 

BARON  GR. 

But  what  about  my  statement  for  Her  Majesty? 

CAZ. 

Just  write  simply:  "We  have  not  a  single  man  more." 
[baron  hurries  off  R.] 

ROXO 

He's  a  good  fellow.  What  would  Valdania  do  with- 
out him? 

CAZ. 

And  I  haven't  told  him  the  real  situation  after  all. 

FIUMA 

Nor  me. 

CAZ. 

It's  Roxo's  combination,  not  mine. 
195 


ROXO 

The  time  has  come  when  Her  Majesty  must  know, 
so  why  not  Fiuma? 

CAZ. 

Ha!     Ha!     Ha!     The  General  has  a  dry  humour 
sometimes. 

FIUMA 

And  a  leaky  humour  other  times.     Sometimes  he  tells 
me  everything,  and  sometimes  nothing. 

ROXO 

It's  because  you're  so  sentimental  about  the  Queen. 

We  were  afraid  you'd  put  a  spoke  in  our  wheel. 

FIUMA 

I?    When  the  fate  of  Valdania ! 


ROXO 

I  told  you  long  ago  of  certain  Princes  who  came  to 

the  Coronation. 

FIUMA  [Bounding] 

Ah,  Prince  Igmor  covets  Margherita ! 

ROXO 

Prince  Igmor,  though  the  younger  son,  is  his  father's 
favourite  and  the  leader  of  the  Rolmenian  forces 

CAZ. 

Roxo   had  already  projected  disengaging  Rolmenia 

from  her  alliance  with  Bosnavina 

196 


ROXO 

Bosnavina,    sandwiched    between   us    and    Rolmenia, 

would  be  caught  in  a  vice 

CAZ. 

So  imagine  Roxo's  delight  when  the  Prince  began  mak- 
ing sheep's  eyes  at  Margherita. 

FIUMA 

Pig's  eyes,  you  mean.     I  never  saw  such  mean  little 
peepers. 

ROXO 

The  Prince  is  an  able  soldier,  but  I  don't  pretend  he's 

a  beauty. 

FIUMA 

Outrageous ! 

CAZ. 

We  knew  you'd  say  that.     But  your  personal   feel- 
ings  

FIUMA 

My   personal  feelings?     What   about   the    Queen's? 
Do  you  think  she'll  look  at  the  little  ogre? 

CAZ. 

It's  fortunate  she  didn't.     He  was  whisked  back  be- 
fore the  Coronation  Ball  by  a  war-cable.     Bosnavina 
was  menaced  by  Poland  and  under  her  treaty  Rolmenia 
stood  to  join  Bosnavina. 
197 


FIUMA 

And  now  Rolmenia  is  to  attack  Bosnavina ! 

CAZ.   [Shrugging  his  shoulders] 

The  Chasse-Croise  of  the  Dance  of  Death! 

ROXO 

The  menace  to  Bosnavina  petered  out,  but  it  left  a 
million  Rolmenians  splendidly  strung  up  for  war. 

FIUMA 

And  these  million  men  are  the  price  of  Margherita ! 

ROXO 

The  salvation  of  Valdania. 

FIUMA 

How  so?     Marrobio  will  be  annihilated  long  before 
Prince  Igmor  can  mobilise. 

ROXO 

Prince  Igmor  is  already  mobilised  and  on  the  very 

frontier  of  Bosnavina. 

FIUMA 

And  Bosnavina  doesn't  protest? 

CAZ.  [Chuckling] 

She  thinks  he's  coming  in  on  her  side. 

FIUMA 

Rolmenia  and  her  Prince  are  a  pretty  pair ! 
198 


CAZ. 

Don't  talk  like  Da  Pietra.  One  would  think  you,  too, 
had  English  blood!  All's  fair  in  love  and  war,  and 
here  we  have  both ! 

ROXO 

It's  true  the  Prince  has  no  sense  of  honour — or  he'd 
believe  in  ours,  and  be  satisfied  with  the  promise  of 
marriage.  But  he  actually  refuses  to  launch  his  offen- 
sive against  Bosriavina  till  the  marriage  ceremony  is 
performed. 

FIUMA  [Relieved] 

Then   the  whole   scheme   breaks   down.      Before   the 

Prince  can  get  here 

ROXO 

Oh,  he  won't  come  here.    How  can  he  leave  his  army? 

FIUMA 

Then  how  can  they  marry?     By  miracle? 

CAZ. 

By  proxy. 

FIUMA 

What? 

CAZ. 

You've  not  heard  of  marriage  by  proxy?  But  it  plays 
no  small  part  in  our  annals. 

ROXO 

The  Rolmenian  envoy  will  represent  his  Prince. 
199 


FIUMA 
That  suffices? 

CAZ. 

Even  a  letter  of  consent  suffices.  .  .  .  Don't  look 
so  dazed — it's  all  according  to  law  and  religion — ask 
the  Cardinal  or  the  Patriarch. 

FIUMA 

Ah,  that's  why  I  have  to  keep  them  on  the  premises ! 

CAZ. 

Of  course.     Go  along — you'll  find  them  playing  chess. 

FIUMA 

Sacrificing  their  Queen! 

ROXO 

Saving  her.  Shall  she  be  Bosnavina's  captive  when 
she  can  become  really  its  Duchess? 

CAZ. 

She  will  be  much  happier  married — she  gets  no  hys- 
terical nowadays.  This  fad  of  national  mourning  is  a 
sign  of  it.  Help  us  to  persuade  her — she  has  faith 
in  you. 

FIUMA 

Which  you  ask  me  to  abuse.     She  will  never  consent. 

CAZ. 

We  think  better  of  her  patriotism. 
200 


ROXO 

And  of  yours. 

FIUMA 

Marry  that  pig-eyed  swaggerer ! 

CAZ. 

The  instant  the  ceremony  is  over,  her  proxy  husband 
will  telegraph  a  word  to  his  Prince 

ROXO 

They  won't  let  us  even  know  the  word — they're  afraid 
we'd  trick  him  into  launching  his  offensive  for  nothing. 

CAZ. 

They  have  got  the  whip-hand.  It  is  useless  protest- 
ing. 

FIUMA  [Bitterly] 

So  that's  why  the  wires  have  to  be  kept  free  and  the 

fireworks  dry! 

CAZ. 

But  weVe  got  the  better  of  them  in  the  Commercial 
Treaty,  if  they  don't  doctor  the  clauses;  and  we've  cer- 
tainly come  off  with  the  best  slice  of  Bosnavina.  It 
looks  the  smaller.  But  I  found  out  from  the  Baron 
where  the  oil-deposits  lie.     Ha !     Ha  !     Ha ! 

FIUMA 

So  you've  done  well  with  our  Margherita. 
201 


ROXO 

And  by  her.    Practically  three  kingdoms  in  her  pocket. 

FIUMA 

Horrible!  And  if  the  Rolmenian  envoy  never  turns 
up? 

CAZ. 

Ugh !  Don't  suggest  such  a  thing — his  car  had  al- 
ready crossed  into  Bosnavina,  before  the  wires  broke 
down. 

FIUMA 

Ha !  Ha !  Ha !  So  he  cuts  across  the  very  country 
he  is  to  destroy!    Politics  are  certainly  amusing. 

CAZ. 

It  won't  be  very  amusing  if  he's  not  here  by  to-night. 

Listen ! 

[Dull  cries  of  "Stop  the  War."    Enter  chamber- 
lain L.  with  a  telegram  on  a  salver] 

Ha!     At  last!     This  will  be  news  of  him! 

CHAMBERLAIN 

Sent  in  from  the  Ministry  by  the  subway,  your  ex- 
cellency. 

[Bows  and  goes.] 

CAZ.  [Tears  envelope] 

Carento   13.  5.     He's  already  in  Valdania,  you  see. 

ROXO 
Thank  God! 
202 


CAZ. 

What's  this?  "Warn  danger  to  the  Palace.  Country 
seething  with  horrible  rumours.  Hope  arrive  early 
this  evening.    D'Azollo." 

ROXO 
D'Azollo? 

CAZ. 

Damn!  The  old  fool  will  be  worse  than  the  young 
one. 

FIUMA 

Thank  you. 

CAZ.  [Fuming] 

While  he  was  pottering  around  on  his  Canal  Commis- 
sion, he  kept  the  country  confident.  He  was  a  symbol 
of  stability.    Now — oh,  this  is  the  last  straw! 

ROXO 

It's  natural  he  should  rush  back  to  protect  his  idol 

from  the  mob. 

CAZ. 

If  only  he  won't  protect  her  from  us!     Chamberlain! 

[The   chamberlain   re-appears,      cazotti   puts 

back  the  wire  on  the  salver. ] 
Show  this  to  the  Duchess  D'Azollo. 

[ The  chamberlain  bows  and  exit.] 
We  must  trust  to  the  Duchess  monopolising  her  long- 
absent  lord. 
203 


FIUMA 

You  won't  prevent  him  from  opposing  the  marriage. 

CAZ. 

If  he  succeeds,  it  is  all  over  with  Valdania. 

ROXO  [Agitated] 
No,  no! 

CAZ. 

"Who  draws  the  sword  of  Alpastroom " 

ROXO  [Thundering] 
Silence  I 

CAZ. 

You  forget  you  are  speaking  to  your  chief. 

ROXO 

We  punish  doubt  even  in  a  plain  citizen — in  a  chief  it 
should  be  a  capital  offence.  Tell  the  Queen,  if  you 
will,  that  this  marriage  is  our  only  hope — that  may 
be  prudent — but  do  not  blaspheme  against  God.  He 
will  yet  save  His  people. 

CAZ. 

Oh,  very  well — go  and  get  your  miracle.     I  wash  my 
hands  of  your  combination. 
[Going  L.] 

FIUMA 

The  crisis,  Signori,  is  too  grave  for  quarrels. 
204 


ROXO  [Joyously  extending  his  hand] 
Ah,  then  you  will  work  with  us ! 

FIUMA  [Gripping  it  with  a  sob] 

It  is  the  only  chance  I  have  had  for  heroism. 

ROXO 

Good  lad !     Don't  think  I  don't  feel  for  the  Queen — 

or  for  you.      Don't  go,   Cazotti,  my  nerves   are  on 

edge. 

[duchess  enters  L.,  further  stopping  CAZOTTI  by 

holding  out  the  telegram  to  him.] 

DUCHESS  D'A.  [Agitatedly] 

Danger  to  the  Palace?    What  does  it  mean? 

CAZ.   [Savagely] 

That  your  husband's  coming  home ! 

FIUMA  [Smiling  a  little] 

Don't  be  alarmed,  aunt.    It's  only  the  people  want 

the  war  stopped.     Can't  you  hear? 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

The  people  ?     What  insolence  ! 

[Goes  towards  casement  L.] 
Really,  the  world  seems  topsy-turvy  nowadays.     The 
Duke,  I  hear,  goes  to  early  Mass! 

ROXO 

There  are  worse  revolutions  than  that.     Your  high- 
ness had  better  keep  away  from  the  balcony. 
205 


DUCHESS  D'A. 

They  would  never  dare  shoot  me! 

FIUMA 

Have  you  never  heard  of  the  French  Revolution? 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

But  'we  are  not  in  France ! 

CAZ.  [Smiling'] 

No — they  do  things  better  there !  Here  there  seems  no 
leading  spirit,  no  concentration.  Do  you  note,  Roxo, 
how  spasmodic  the  shouting  is?  Fortunately  it's  too 
cold  to  stand  about.  However,  I'm  glad  you've  come, 
Duchess.    I  want  you  please  to  help  with  the  wedding. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

The  wedding!     What  wedding? 

CAZ. 

A  Court  lady's.  This  very  hour,  perhaps.  You  ladies 
had  best  dress  at  once. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Is  this  a  jest,  Carlo? 

FIUMA 

I  wish  to  God  it  was ! 

CAZ. 

We  must  do  something  to  pacify  the  people.  And 
206 


it  will  cheer  up  the  Court,  too,  to  cast  off  mourning 
for  the  nonce. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

But  who  is  it?    I  am  dying  of  curiosity. 

CAZ. 

Enlighten  your  aunt  before  she  expires.     And  let  her 
stop  all  the  cackle  in  advance. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

But  will  the  Queen  be  present? 

CAZ. 

It  will  hardly  take  place  without  her. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

And  will  she  permit  grand  toilette? 

CAZ. 

You  will  take  all  your  instructions   from  the  Lord 
Chamberlain. 

DUCHESS  D'A. 

Quick,  Carlo !     I  burn.     Oh,  I  hope  the  Duke  will  be 
back  for  the  wedding! 

[Exit  L.  with  fiuma.] 

CAZ. 

Well,  we've  won  Fiuma  over.     That's  a  great  asset. 

ROXO 

It  would  be  a  greater  asset  to  have  the  proxy  safe  on 
207 


the  premises.  Why  doesn't  the  Rolmenian  rascal  turn 
up?  I  trust  the  look-out  is  on  the  qui  vive.  Every 
instant  is  precious. 

[He  opens  casement  R.   and  steps  out  on   bal- 
cony.] 

CROWD  [From  Piazza] 

Stop  the  War!     Stop  the  War!     Boo! 

ROXO  [Returning  trembling] 
Good  God! 

CAZ. 

Frightened  of  the  mob?     You! 

ROXO 

The  sentry's  dead! 

CAZ. 
Dead? 

ROXO 

Half-frozen  already.     Could  you  give  me  a  hand? 

CAZ. 

Can't   you    call    somebody?    .    .    .    Sh!      Here's    the 

Queen. 

[ROXO  closes  the  casement.  CAZOTTI  conceals  his 
agitation.  The  queen,  entering  L.,  makes  no  at- 
tempt to  conceal  hers.  She  is  in  black,  but  wears, 
by  Valdanian  custom,  the  crown  for  the  Council.] 

QUEEN 

I've  dismissed  the  Council! 

208 


CAZ. 

Oh,  Madam,  why? 

QUEEN 

I  could  see  the  sunset  from  the  windows. 

[The  two  men  look  at  each  other.    She  gazes  at 

the  coloured-glass  Madonna.'] 
Here  at  least  the  Madonna  shuts  it  out — that  great 
ocean  of  blood. 

[Falls  into  a  chair  L.  and  covers  her  face.] 
Oh,  holy  mother,  if  you  could  blot  it  all  out! 

[Sobs.] 

CAZ.  [To  roxo] 

That's  what  comes  of  having  women  monarchs. 

ROXO 

Her  father  gave  us  more  trouble  with  his  mistresses. 

CAZ. 

D n  etiquette.     I  can't  stand  here  dumb.- 

ROXO 

No,  nol     Let  her  have  her  cry  out. 

CAZ. 

Time  presses.     I  must  tell  her. 

CROWD  [Dully  from  Piazza] 

Stop  the  War ! 

209  ° 


QUEEN  [Listening!  suddenly] 
Ah,  you  hear! 

CAZ. 

Only  a  few  Bolshevists,  Madam.  But  we  can't  stop 
the  war.  The  deadlock  at  the  pass  ended  in  our  defeat. 
This  rag  is  only  too  accurate. 

QUEEN 

Oh,  I  have  known  it  all  along — all  these  long  winter 
nights  that  I  lie  tossing  in  the  dark,  thinking  of  our 
heroes  in  the  icy  trenches.  Ah,  the  divine  relief  when 
the  sun  comes  up  over  the  mountain-tops  and  spreads 
the  blue  shadow  of  the  firs  on  the  snow ! 

ROXO 

That  divine  relief,  Madam,  can  be  found  even  in  the 
dark,  if  one  seeks  the  peace  of  God. 

QUEEN 

The  peace  of  God?  As  I  lie  sleepless  I  think  of  the 
eternal  insomnia  of  God. 

ROXO  [Shocked] 
Madam! 

QUEEN 

I  only  quote  the  Bible.  God  neither  slumbers  nor 
sleeps.  Ah,  it  is  the  pain  of  God,  not  His  peace  that 
passeth  understanding.  Last  night,  drugged  by  the  in- 
cense and  music  of  the  Intercession  Service,  I  felt  I 
should  sleep  at  last.  But  oh !  it  was  worse  than  my 
210 


nights  of  insomina!  I  dreamed  I  was  escaping  from 
it  all — drifting  on  a  timber-raft,  exulting  in  the  rush 
along  the  river,  the  leaps  down  the  roaring  cataracts, 
the  straining  and  snapping  of  the  ropes.  Suddenly 
came  a  strange  calm.  We  had  reached  Bosnavina. 
But  the  sentries  did  not  challenge.  They  stood  frozen 
on  the  frontier. 

CAZ.  [Super stitiously  glancing  at  casement  R.] 
Eh? 

QUEEN 

The  cattle  lay  frozen  in  the  fields,  the  chimneys  dripped 
with  icicles.  The  raftsmen  began  building  a  box  with 
their  timber.  I  said,  what  is  this?  They  said,  it  is 
your  coffin,  Duchess  of  Bosnavina.  Would  you  sur- 
vive all  your  subjects  ?  While  they  were  closing  me  in 
it,  I  struggled  vainly  to  move  or  speak,  but  when  I 
heard  the  frozen  clods  rattle  on  the  lid,  I  gave  a  great 
cry  and  the  lid  flew  off,  and  the  coffin  soared  over  lands 
and  seas  until  it  descended  at  my  own  doorstep  in 
New  York.  I  tore  in,  calling  "Daddy,  daddy  I"  But 
they  were  all  three  frozen  like  the  others — Daddy, 
Oliver,  Norah.  Ah,  for  once  I  was  glad  to  wake 
up,  to  think  this  at  least  was  not  true. 

[Springs  up.] 
Tell  me,  tell  me  it  is  not.    All  through  the  war  I  have 
never  troubled  you  with  enquiries.  But  now,  now ! 

CAZ. 

Calm  yourself,  Madam !  Our  American  espionage  de- 
211 


partment  would  certainly  have  informed  us,  had  any- 
thing happened  to  the  Da  Pietra  household.  But  as 
for  the  other  person,  if  by  Oliver  you  mean  the  young 
architect,  Oliver  Randel,  then  I  can  give  you  the  most 
reassuring  news,  for  he  is  just  happily  married. 

QUEEN 

Married? 


CAZ. 

To  a  California  heiress  who  adores  his  architecture. 


QUEEN  [Visibly  stricken] 

Oh! 

[Turns  away  and  drops  into  a  chair.  ROXO's  hand 
grasps  CAZOTTl's  in  congratulation  of  his  clever- 
ness. From  L.  there  comes  faintly  a  sound  of  a 
Greek  Church  chant  in  clear  boyish  voices: 
"Happy  are  those  who  fear  the  Lord,"  etc.] 

What  is  that? 


ROXO 

Sounds  like  the  chapel  choir  practising. 

QUEEN 

For  what?  More  ceremonies?  I'll  have  no  more. 
Can  heaven  itself  bring  back  our  heroes?  Ah,  I  de- 
served that  coffin ! 

212 


CAZ. 

You  are  overwrought,  Madam.     You  did  your  best 
to  prevent  the  war. 

QUEEN  [Feverishly] 

Yes,  I  did,  didn't  I?     I  wrote  to  the  ambassador,  I 

explained. 

ROXO 

Never  in  our  history  has  a  sovereign  grovelled  so! 

QUEEN 

But  you  delivered  my  apologies — they  were  delivered? 
[ROXO  hesitates.] 

CAZ. 

Of   course,    Madam.      The   Bosnavinians  were  bent 
on  war. 

QUEEN 

They  were,  weren't  they?    It's  not  my  fault,  really? 

ROXO 

They  had  been  preparing  for  half  a  century. 

QUEEN 

And  you  all  did  your  best,  too,  to  prevent  it — you 

wrote,  you  conferred -! 

CAZ. 

We  appealed  to  the  League  of  Nations — their  Com- 
mittee is  still  sitting.    We  cabled  to  the  Pope  and  the 

Caliph — we  sat  up  all  night 

213 


QUEEN 

Then  why  don't  you  stop  it  now? 

ROXO 

Now?    When  we  are  losing? 

QUEEN 

But  I  asked  you  to  stop  it  when  Marrobio  took  Ripo ! 

ROXO 

It's  not  in  human  nature  to  stop  when  you  are  winning. 

CAZ. 

There  would  have  been  a  revolution — not  so  mild  as 
to-day's. 

QUEEN 

But  when  there  was  a  deadlock  at  the  pass,  I  asked  you 
to  stop,  too. 

ROXO 

Then  we  felt  that  with  a  little  more  pressure ! 

QUEEN 

So  whether  you  are  winning,  losing  or  drawing,  you 
can  never  stop.  The  forest  is  smouldering  and  you 
work  all  night  to  stamp  out  the  menace.  Yet  once  the 
fire  bursts  out,  then  you  are  to  fold  your  arms — or, 
rather,  to  pour  oil  on  the  flames! 

ROXO 

That  is  the  law  of  war. 

214 


QUEEN 

The  law  of  lunacy!     We  all  seem  like  the  cat  in  the 

old  Arab  fable. 

CAZ. 

What  cat,  Madam? 

QUEEN 

The  cat  that  bit  the  meat-knife  and  found  such  joy  in 
the  blood  that  she  went  on  biting  till  she  bled  to 
death. 

ROXO 

There  is  no  joy  in  blood,  Madam.  There  is  mutual 
sacrifice.  War  is  God's  instrument  for  exalting  and 
purifying  a  nation. 

CAZ.  [Impatient] 

These  academic  arguments 


[Enter  frenziedly,  baron  gripstein  R.,  dishev- 
elled, hysteric,  muddy,  blood  oozing  from  his  fore- 
head.] 

BARON  GR. 

Save  me,  Madam,  give  me  shelter!  , 

[Sensation.] 

QUEEN  [Springing  up] 
What  has  happened? 

BARON  GR. 

The  mob  has  burnt  our  quarter. 
215 


QUEEN 

What  quarter? 

BARON  GR. 

They  say  the  Jews  made  the  war — I  saw  them  driven 

back  into  the   flames — women   and  children. 

QUEEN 

God  in  heaven! 

ROXO  [Roaring] 
Where  are  the  troops? 

BARON  GR. 

I  don't  know.  As  I  passed,  my  car  was  stopped,  sur- 
rounded, hooted,  stoned.  Yes,  I  remember,  there 
were  soldiers,  but  they  joined  in  the  jeering. 

ROXO 

I  must  'phone  to  Molp. 

[Enter  FIUMA  R.,  who  stares  at  the  BARON.] 
Ah,  Fiuma,  what  news? 

BARON  GR. 

I  thank  God  my  wife  did  not  live  to  see  this  day,  my 
son  is  blind  to  it. 

QUEEN 

Compose  yourself.    Fiuma,  will  you  see  to  the  Baron? 

He  has  been  hurt  by  the  mob. 

216 


FIUMA 

I  am  sorry,  Baron.     Come  with  me. 

[Is  leading  him  out.    The  BARON  submits  dazedly. 
A  raucous  roar  of  glee  is  heard  from  the  mob.] 

CAZ. 

This   is   getting   serious.      Unfortunately  we   haven't 
enough  Jews  to  last  them  long. 

[A  red  flame  flickers  up  behind  the  casements.] 
What    did    I    say?      The    fire    is    spreading.      The 
Palace 

FIUMA  [At  exit] 

No  danger,  excellency.     They  are  only  burning  some- 
body in  effigy. 

CAZ. 

Who  is  it? 

FIUMA 

Oh,  it's  only  to  warm  themselves. 

QUEEN 

Ah,  you  are  afraid  to  say — it  must  be  me ! 

FIUMA 

No,   Madam,   your  figure   doesn't  lend  itself  to  the 
grotesque. 

QUEEN 

Who  is  it,  then? 
217 


FIUMA 

The  Prime  Minister. 

[Exit  L.  with  baron.] 

CAZ. 

Me  ?  The  ungrateful  brutes !  Think  how  they  cheered 
my  war-speech  from  that  very  balcony,  think  of  the 
boys  of  fourteen  who  tried  to  enlist!  But  this  peril 
from  your  own  people,  Madam,  added  to  the  enemy's 
menace,  makes  it  imperative  that  without  a  moment's 
delay,  Roxo  and  I  should  now  explain  to  you 

ROXO  [Nervously] 

If  Your  Majesty  will  excuse  me 

[Bowing  and  going  R.] 

CAZ.  [Angrily] 

Why  do  you  leave  it  to  me? 

ROXO 

I  must  'phone  to  Molp  to  protect  the  Jews.     I  don't 

even  know  if  the  fire  brigade 

[Cries  of  "Margherita!    Margheritaf"  penetrate 
from  the  Piazza.] 

QUEEN 

Ah,  my  people  are  calling  me  ! 
[Goes  to  casement  L.] 

ROXO  [Ru,shing  back] 
For  God's  sake,  Madam! 
218 


QUEEN 

I  faced  the  music  when  it  was  pleasant 

[roxo  waves  her  aside  and  rushes  out  instead  of 
her.     The  red  flame  flickers  more  strongly.'] 

CROWD  [From  Piazza] 

Boo-oo ! 

Stop  the  War! 

Death  to  Roxo ! 

Viva  Roxo ! 

Death  to  Margherita ! 

Down  with  Cazotti ! 

Silence  for  Roxo ! 

Boo-oo ! 


ROXO    {Raising  his  armless  sleeve  has  obtained  si- 
lence, and  shouts] 
Go  home,  my  friends.     The  Pacifist  rag  has  misled 
you !    Wait  till  you  see  the  Gazetta!    We  have  a  new 
army  of  a  million. 

[Cheers.     Voices,  "Send  them  home/"  drowned  in 
cheers.] 
Victory    is    assured.      Viva    Marrobio !      Viva    Mar- 
gherita !     Viva  Valdania ! 

[Closes  casement  amid  confused  cheering,  mingled 
with  some  boos.     All  noise  gradually  dies  down.] 


QUEEN 

What  is  the  use  of  feeding  them  with  lies? 
219 


ROXO 

It  only  rests  with  Your  Majesty  to  make  my  words 
true. 

QUEEN 
With  me? 

ROXO 

Yes,  your  people  are  calling  you. 

QUEEN 

I  do  not  understand. 

ROXO 

Cazotti  will  explain. 

[Bows  and  retires  R.~\ 

CAZ.   [As  roxo  passes'] 
Coward!    .    .    . 

[He  walks  about  embarrassed.] 

QUEEN 

I  am  waiting. 

CAZ. 

I — er Just  let  me  find  a  map,  Your  Majesty. 

QUEEN 

Never  mind  a  map.     Go  on. 

CAZ. 

You  have  probably  remarked  that  Bosnavina,  while 
220 


bounded  on  the  E.  and  S.  E.  by  ourselves,  has  for  its 
Western  neighbour,  Rolmenia. 

QUEEN 

Is  this  the  time  for  a  lesson  in  geography? 

CAZ. 

I  only  wish  to  recall  to  Your  Majesty  the  existence  of 
Rolmen:a. 

QUEEN 

I  am  not  likely  to  forget  how  that  pig-eyed  little  Prince 
impressed  its  greatness  upon  me,  as  he  curled  his 
detestable  moustache. 

CAZ.  [Disconcerted] 

Your  Majesty's  memory  is    .    .    .    appalling.     Prince 

Igmor  is  a  genius. 

QUEEN 

So  you  all  said  of  Marrobio.  But  never  mind  the 
Prince — he's  not  worth  talking  about — come  to  your 
point.  Obviously  you  are  thinking  of  getting  help 
from  his  father. 

CAZ. 

Your  Majesty's  divination  is  as  marvellous  as  your 
memory. 

QUEEN 

And  your  compliments  as  superfluous  as  your  geog- 
raphy. After  all,  I  was  first  at  College  before  I  was 
221 


first  at  Court.  But  I  refuse  to  drag  other  countries 
into  the  war,  to  slaughter  unfortunate  men  who  have 
nothing  to  do  with  our  quarrel. 

CAZ. 

Then  you  prefer  to  slaughter  Marrobio  and  his  forces? 

QUEEN 

But  if  we  stopped  the  war ! 

CAZ. 

Do  you  begin  that  again?  That  only  means  our 
swifter  annexation  to  Bosnavina.  Besides,  the  mere 
entry  of  Rolmenia  into  the  war  may  stop  it.  Bos- 
navina, caught  between  two  fires,  will  surrender,  in- 
stead of  Valdania,  and  the  fresh  slaughter  you  fear 
will  probably  never  take  place.  Ah,  Madam,  you  have 
not  the  right  to  destroy  your  country. 

QUEEN 

/  am  destroying  it? — I? 

CAZ. 

You  drew  the  sword  of  Alpastroom — will  you  write 
our  or  Bosnavina's  doom? 

QUEEN  [Struggling  with  herself — after  a  pause] 
What  does  Rolmenia  ask? 

CAZ. 

The  conditions  are  hard. 
222 


QUEEN 

But  since  we  have  no  alternative 

CAZ. 

Cannot  Your  Majesty  guess? 

QUEEN 

My  brain  is  too  tired.     Don't  waste  time. 

CAZ. 

They  ask  various  things.  Prince  Igmor,  who  is  really 
an  excellent  fellow,  was  satisfied  with  one  thing.  But 
his  father  wanted  not  only  a  commercial  treaty,  but 
the  lion's  share  of  Bosnavina. 

QUEEN 

A  share  of  what  does  not  belong  to  us!  Let  them 
have  it  all.  And  for  that  they  will  give  us  a  million 
men.  Oh,  why  didn't  you  tell  me  before?  My  poor 
Marrobio! 

CAZ. 

Yes,  Madam.    But — but  there  is  one  last  condition. 

QUEEN 

And  that  is ! 

[baron  gripstein  appears  L.,  spruced  up  again, 

his  cut  neatly  plastered.] 
Ah,  Baron,  you  are  restored! 

BARON  GR. 

To  my  senses,  Madam.  I  am  so  ashamed.  I  don't 
223 


know  what  I  said  except  it  was  not  "God  bless  you." 
May  He  reward  you  for  your  gracious  kindness !  And 
it  is  your  wife,  excellency,  that  has  dressed  my  wound. 
And  the  Cardinal  and  the  Patriarch  have  been  so  sym- 
pathetic. 

QUEEN 

The  Cardinal  and  the  Patriarch!  They  are  both  in 
the  Palace? 

CAZ. 

I  sent  for  them,  Madam.  They  .  .  .  are  interested 
in  the  Rolmenian  agreement. 

QUEEN 

Ah,  those  religious  minority  questions! 

CAZ. 

Your  Majesty  would  enormously  oblige  me  by  resum- 
ing your  seat  in  the  Council  Chamber  and  letting  their 
eminences  come  to  you.  It  is  really  their  department 
— that  last  condition  you  were  asking  about.  And  I 
have  to  cope  with  this  revolution. 

QUEEN 

But  can't  I  leave  it  to  them? 

CAZ. 

They  rather  make  a  point  of  your  assent.  Baron,  will 
you  not  escort  Her  Majesty  to  the  Council  Chamber 
and  send  her  their  most  reverend  eminences? 
224 


BARON  GR. 

I  shall  be  most  honoured. 

[Precedes  the  queen  L.] 
Way  for  the  Queen! 

[Moves  aside,  lets  her  pass  and  follows.'] 

CAZ. 

Ouf!     Thank  God  for  the  Church! 

[Turning  R.  he  sees  corporal  vanni  enter  with 

some  men  and  a  stretcher.] 
What  the  devil ! 

VANNI 

General's  orders,  excellency. 

CAZ. 

Eh? — Ah,  that  poor  sentinel! 

VANNI 

Yes,  we  all  liked  him.    Heart-failure.    He  flopped  just 

here. 

CAZ. 

But,  then,  Corpo  di  Dio,  there's  no  look-out ! 

VANNI 

The  General's  posted  one  in  Da  Pietra  Street.     The 

Piazza  is  impassable. 

CAZ. 

Ah! 

225  p 


VANNI 

Apart  from  the  Palace  being  barricaded.   He's  to  bring 
the  envoy  by  the  War  Office  subway. 
[roxo  enters  breathlessly  R.] 

ROXO 
He's  come! 

CAZ. 

The  proxy?    Thank  God!    Where  is  he? 

ROXO 

Getting  out  of  his  snow-sodden  motor-coat.     Fiuma's 
just  bringing  him. 

[Roaring  as  he  perceives  the  stretcher  moving  to 

balcony.] 
Don't  do  that  now! 

VANNI   [Passing  on  the  roar  to  his  men] 
Cabbage-heads !     You  must  wait  your  chance  ! 
[Motions  them  out  and  exit  R.] 

ROXO 

It's  a  handsome  proxy. 

CAZ. 

These  Rolmenians  are  as  handsome  as  they  are  tricky. 

ROXO 

Pity  the  Prince  hasn't  got  his  looks. 

CAZ. 

The  Prince  is  a  mongrel — his  mother  was  a  Bosna- 
226 


vinian — he  seems  to  have  picked  out  the  worst  points 
of  both  breeds. 

ROXO 

Ha!     Ha!    Ha! 

CAZ. 

But  of  the  two  give  me  the  Bosnavinians.     The  Rol- 
menians  are  a  rotten  priest-ridden  lot. 

ROXO 

What  can  you  expect  of  the  Greek  Church?    ...    I 

beg  your  pardon. 

CAZ. 

What  for?     Do  I  believe  in  any  church? 

[A  gold-laced  official  enters  L.   with   champagne 

and  four  glasses.] 
Ah,  we  are  to  drink! 

CROWD  [A  dull  roar  from  the  Piazza] 
Death  to  Margherita ! 

ROXO 

Here  they  are. 

[Enter  L.  fiuma  and  captain  theopolou,  a 
dashing  young  cavalry  officer,  in  blue  and  gold, 
with  marks  of  snow  still  on  him.  He  carries  a 
well-stuffed  portfolio.] 

FIUMA 

Captain  Theopolou !    Our  Prime  Minister. 
227 


VANNI 

Apart  from  the  Palace  being  barricaded.   He's  to  bring 
the  envoy  by  the  War  Office  subway. 
[roxo  enters  breathlessly  R.] 

ROXO 
He's  come! 

CAZ. 

The  proxy?    Thank  God!    Where  is  he? 

ROXO 

Getting  out  of  his  snow-sodden  motor-coat.     Fiuma's 
just  bringing  him. 

[Roaring  as  he  perceives  the  stretcher  moving  to 

balcony.] 
Don't  do  that  now! 

VANNI  [Passing  on  the  roar  to  his  men] 
Cabbage-heads !     You  must  wait  your  chance ! 
[Motions  them  out  and  exit  R.] 

ROXO 

It's  a  handsome  proxy. 

CAZ. 

These  Rolmenians  are  as  handsome  as  they  are  tricky. 

ROXO 

Pity  the  Prince  hasn't  got  his  looks. 

CAZ. 

The  Prince  is  a  mongrel — his  mother  was  a  Bosna- 
226 


vinian — he  seems  to  have  picked  out  the  worst  points 
of  both  breeds. 

ROXO 

Ha!     Ha!     Ha! 

CAZ. 

But  of  the  two  give  me  the  Bosnavinians.     The  Rol- 
menians  are  a  rotten  priest-ridden  lot. 

ROXO 

What  can  you  expect  of  the  Greek  Church?    ...    I 

beg  your  pardon. 

CAZ. 

What  for?     Do  I  believe  in  any  church? 

[A   gold-laced  official  enters  L.   with   champagne 

and  four  glasses.] 
Ah,  we  are  to  drink! 

CROWD  [A  dull  roar  from  the  Piazza] 
Death  to  Margherita ! 

ROXO 

Here  they  are. 

[Enter  L.  fiuma  and  captain  theopolou,  a 
dashing  young  cavalry  officer,  in  blue  and  gold, 
with  marks  of  snow  still  on  him.  He  carries  a 
well-stuffed  portfolio.] 

FIUMA 

Captain  Theopolou!    Our  Prime  Minister. 
227 


ROXO 

Would  I  had  two  hands  that  I  might  rub  them  to- 
gether ! 

[  The  QUEEN  bursts  in  furiously  L.  The  CARDINAL 
and  the  PATRIARCH  at  her  heels  in  full  canonicals, 
their  vestments  evidently  donned  for  the  ceremony. 
The  CARDINAL  is  all  in  red,  save  for  the  black 
mantle  edged  with  it  and  the  falling  black  bands, 
and  wears  a  red  skull  cap,  holding  his  black  hat  in 
his  hand:  the  PATRIARCH  is  more  gorgeous  and 
jewelled.'] 

QUEEN 

Do  not  follow  me — my  decision  is  final! 

[roxo  and  cazotti  bow,  disconcerted.] 
Ah,  Cazotti,  no  wonder  you  didn't  dare  propose  your 
monstrous  combination! 

CAZ. 

My  combination? 

ROXO 

It  is  my  combination,  Madam.     The  only  way — un- 
der God — to  save  Valdania ! 

QUEEN 

Then  Valdania  is  lost! 

CAZ. 

And  your  throne,  too. 
230 


QUEEN 

I  must  go  down  with  my  people. 

CAZ. 

Nothing  so  heroic,  Madam.  Your  people  will  tear 
you  in  pieces  when  they  learn  why  the  million  men 
already  announced 

QUEEN 

My  people  threaten  nothing  so  terrible  as  your  propo- 
sition. 

ROXO 

You  have  not  the  right  to  die  when  you  alone  can 
save  them.  When  you  agreed  to  come  back  with  me, 
you  knew  from  your  mother's  fate  that  sovereignty 
meant  sacrifice. 

QUEEN 

My  mother  was  only  murdered — she  was  not  out- 
raged. 

CAZ. 

We  cannot  accept  that  description  of  royal  alliances. 
No  Princess  of  your  house  has  ever  chosen  her  hus- 
band. Several  have  been  betrothed  at  birth;  and  as 
for  the  famous  Jacinta,  the  Metropolitan  Archbishop 
performed  her  marriage  ceremony  when  she  was  five. 

QUEEN 
Loathsome ! 
231 


CARDI. 

No,  my  daughter,  in  your  exalted  sphere,  ordinary 
values  are  changed.  Sovereigns  must  seek  their  hap- 
piness in  duty.  Yesterday  Your  Majesty  prayed  God 
for  victory.     To-day  He  offers  you  the  means. 

QUEEN  [Shocked] 
He  offers — He ? 

CARDI. 

Assuredly. 

QUEEN 

Ah,  you  do  well  to  say  "He  1"  A  woman  God  would 
be  more  understanding. 

CARDI. 

As  I  may  neither  contradict  nor  condone  Your 
Majesty's  heresies  I  must  beg  leave  to  retire. 

PATRI. 

I  associate  myself  with  his  most  reverend  eminence. 

CAZ.  [Desperately] 

But  surely,  your  holiness,  Her  Majesty  only  refers  to 

our  blessed  Mary. 

CARDI. 

Ah,  in  that  case 

[baron  gripstein  appears  L.  and  draws  back.] 
232 


BARON  GR. 

Ah,  the  Council  is  shifted.     I  intrude. 

QUEEN 

No;  come,  Baron.    I  need  somebody  human.    Do  you 

know  of  this  horrible  suggestion? 

BARON  GR. 

I  have  just  been  shocked  to  learn  it. 

QUEEN  [Relieved] 
Ha! 

CAZ. 

Then  the  martyrdom  of  your  sons  is  to  go  for  nothing 
— your  blinded  Sigismondo,  your  slaughtered ! 

BARON  GR.  [Bursting  into  tears] 
My  poor  children ! 

QUEEN 

Don't!     It's  not  fair  argument. 
[Sinks  into  a  chair.] 

CAZ. 

Hush,    Baron!      Consider    Her    Majesty's    feelings. 
You  have  the  man-power  statement? 

BARON  GR.  [Mastering  himself] 
Ah,  pardon! 

[Fumbles  in  pocket.] 

233 


QUEEN  [Waving  it  away] 

I   don't  want  it.     What  you  call  man-power  I   call 

power  of  suffering.    O  my  poor  tortured  soldiers ! 

PATRI. 

Their  sufferings  will  be  subtracted  from  their  period 
of  purgatory. 

QUEEN 

If  my  own  Church  cannot  persuade  me,  how  should 
yours  ? 

PATRI. 

By  showing  you  that  they  are  at  one  in  the  love  of  the 
Fatherland,  that  you  are  not  alone  in  making  sacri- 
fices. 

QUEEN 

And  what  sacrifices  does  anybody  else  make? 

PATRI. 

Everybody  makes  sacrifices.  Prince  Igmor  in  accept- 
ing a  Catholic  wife 

QUEEN  [Bridling] 
Accepting? 

PATRI. 

Both  our  Churches  in  permitting  the  mixed  marriage. 

234 


CARDI. 

And  mine  in  letting  the  Prince's  Church  perform  the 
ceremony. 

PATRI. 

And  mine  in  permitting  the  children  to  be  Catholic. 

CAZ. 

Is  it  necessary  to  go  into  these  details?  The  con- 
tract  

CARDI. 

Her  Majesty  must  clearly  assent,  your  excellency.  The 
Vatican,  which  has  given*  me  carte  blanche  other- 
wise  

ROXO 

And  since  this  delicate  matter  has  come  up,  may  I 
add  that  in  these  turbulent  times  the  sooner  the  dynasty 
is  assured,  the  better.  Not  till  the  hundred  and  one 
guns  announce  the  birth  of  a  prince 

BARON  GR. 

Ah,  but  we  must  be  certain  marriage  minus  the  bride- 
groom is  legitimate? 

CARDI. 

It  is  certain  his  absence  is  not  among  the  impedimenta 

diremptoria  or  the 

235 


CAZ. 

We  have  been  into  all  that !    Even  this  letter  of  consent 

[Exhibiting  it] 
suffices ! 

CARDI. 

Yes,  the  Acta  Apostolicae  Sedis  for  the  year  2 


CAZ. 

Let  us  not  go  back. 

CARDI. 

But  even  recently,  Baron,  the  Sacred  Congregation  of 
the  Rota 

CAZ. 

The  Baron,  I  am  sure 


PATRI. 

I  took  the  opinion  of  my  brother  the  Archimandrite. 

State  necessity 

CAZ. 

Knows  no  delay.     We  must  to  the  ceremony. 

[The    queen,    who    has    sat    silent    throughout, 
shoots  a  startled  glance  at  him.] 

PATRI. 

You  see,  Baron,  though  Our  Lord  made  matrimony  a 

sacrament,  it  did  not  cease  to  be  a  contract. 

236 


CARDI. 

And  contracts  do  not  need  the  joint  presence  of  the 
parties. 

PATRI. 

Our  role  is  simply  to  bless  the  contract. 

QUEEN 

As  you  blessed  the  banners :  as  you  turned  church-bells 
into   cannon! 

CARDI. 

The  end  sanctifies  the  means. 

CAZ. 

We  are  wandering  from  the  point.  If  there  is  any 
flaw  in  the  legality,  so  much  the  better.  Her  Majesty 
would  remain  unbound. 

QUEEN 

And  do  you  think  that  after  the  Prince  had  fought  for 
us,  I  would  creep  out  through  a  legal  flaw? 

ROXO 

Brava!     Coals  of  fire  for  the  Prince ! 

CAZ. 

Even  if  there  is  no  flaw,  Madam,  the  Prince  may  be 
killed  in  the  war. 

QUEEN 

A  war-widow !  So,  Cardinal,  it's  not  a  sacrament,  but 
a  gamble. 

237 


CARDI. 

It  was  not  I  who  put  it  so,  my  daughter. 

QUEEN 

You  overlook,  another  way  out,  Cazotti.     /  may  die 
during  the  war. 

BARON  GR. 

God  forbid! 

QUEEN 

I  thought  you  were  a  friend  of  mine. 

[Enter  fiuma  L.] 
Ah,  here  comes  a  real  friend. 

[Hysterically] 
Fiuma,  if  you  know  about  this  plan,  tell  them  it  is  too 
horrible. 

[A  pause.     FIUMA  struggles  with  himself.'] 

FIUMA  [Slowly] 

It  is  a  martyrdom.     No  woman  in  history  ever  had  a 

ghastlier  or  a  more  glorious  opportunity. 

QUEEN 

You  too ! 

[Covers  her  face.] 

ROXO 

You  will  shine  in  our  history  like  a  star. 

CAZ. 

Come,  Madam!     The  Prince  at  the  other  end  of  the 

cable  awaits  his  answer. 

238 


[The  queen  is  now  ringed  round  with  six  men, 
like  a  hunted  creature  at  bay.  She  sweeps  out  her 
arms  wildly.] 

QUEEN 

You  give  me  no  breathing-space. 

CAZ. 

What  breathing-space  has  Marrobio?  Very  soon  our 
soldiers  may  cease  to  breathe  altogether! 

ROXO 

Rolmenia,  outraged  by  our  refusal,  will  join  in  destroy- 
ing us. 

FIUMA 

Bosnavina  will  certainly  show  us  no  mercy. 

BARON  GR.  [Sobbing] 

Our  immemorial  glory  will  be  extinct. 

PATRI. 

Bosnavina  will  impose  her  own  bishops. 

CARDI. 

Our  Moslem  will  rise  and  crush  the  Church. 

QUEEN 

And  /  am  to  be  the  scapegoat!     Here  you  stand,  six 
great  men,  two  of  you  with  the  keys  to  heaven,  yet 
you  can  think  of  no  way  of  saving  your  country  but  by 
outraging  a  lonely  girl! 
239 


CAZ.,  ROXO,  FIUMA,  BARON,  CARDI.,  PATRI. 

[All  speaking  at  once] 

I   protest,    Madam !      Your   Majesty's  language 

!     I  would  give  my  life !     But  it  may  turn 

out  happy !    O,  my  daughter !    I  am  not  St. 

Peter ! 

QUEEN   [Springing  magnificently  to  her  feet  like  a 

lioness  and  sweeping  them  all  away] 
No  more !  If  I  have  listened  thus  far,  it  is  not  because 
of  your  arguments,  it  is  because  I  feel  blood-guilty. 
Not  of  the  war — no,  not  of  that!  But  when,  despite 
all  my  grovelling,  as  Roxo  calls  it,  Bosnavina  sounded 
the  war-trumpet,  then  out  of  the  obscure  depths  of 
my  being  rose  an  answering  blood-lust,  a  mad  joy  of 
battle.  I  longed  to  crush  Bosnavina,  to  humble  her 
haughty  ambassador  in  the  dust,  and  with  my  foot  on 
his  neck,  to  hear  his  "grovelling"  countrymen  salute 
their  Duchess.  Ah,  the  flags,  the  cheers,  the  drums, 
the  drugs  that  make  one  drunk!  Prancing  in  an  Ama- 
zonian uniform  and  a  plumed  busby  as  Colonel  of 
my  Hussars,  I  sped  the  soldiers  to  the  strains  of  my 
own  music,  crying  "God  and  glory!"  as  one  chivies 
dogs  to  the  chase.  When  Marrobia  took  Ripo,  victory 
shrilled  through  my  veins  like  a  trumpet,  and  I  has- 
tened to  the  cathedral  to  offer  a  "Te  Deum."  Ah, 
how  God  has  punished  that  savage  vain-glory!  But 
is  my  expiation  not  yet  complete?  Must  I — oh,  why 
did  they  kill  my  mother  when  I  need  her  so?  Leave 
me,  leave  me,  all  of  you!  I  must  think,  I  must 
pray! 
240 


CARDI. 

Let  me  pray  with  you,  my  daughter. 

QUEEN  [Stamps  foot] 

Leave  me.    Oh!    Oh!    Oh!    Oh! 

[Collapsing!  on  her  chair,  sobbing] 

CAZ.  [Quietly  to  the  Church  dignitaries] 
You  may  prepare  for  the  ceremonial.     Come,  Roxo, 
we  must  study  the  contracts  to  see  they  don't  jew  us. 
Baron,  we  shall  be  glad  of  your  help.     Madam,  your 
very  humble  servant. 

[All  bow  and  exeunt  except  FIUMA,  who  stands 
surveying  the  queen  in  silent  sympathy.  Then  he, 
too,  goes  out.  The  queen  rises  totteringly  and 
turns  to  the  painted  Madonna  on  the  casement.] 

QUEEN 

O  blessed  Mary,  whose  face  I  have  scarcely  known 
from  my  mother's,  help  me,  send  me  a  Redeemer. 
.  .  .  Or  at  least  send  me  a  sign.  What  shall  I 
answer?    What  shall  I  answer? 

CROWD   [From  Piazza] 
Death  to  Margherita! 

QUEEN 

Death?     Perhaps  that  is  the  answer. 

[Twilight  has  now  fallen  and  the  flames  leaping 
weirdly  on  the  hearth  alone  illumine  the  scene. 
The  DUKE   d'azollo  in   thick  motor-coat,   snow- 

241  Q 


stained  and  perturbed,  enters  breathlessly  R.     The 
QUEEN  turns  at  the  sound  and  gives  a  great  cry.] 

QUEEN 

Ah,  my  Redeemer!  You  have  come  to  save  me  from 
them! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Yes,  yes,  be  calm ;  I  have  come  to  save  you  from  them. 

QUEEN 

But  how  did  you  know? 

DUKE  D'A. 

It  is  in  the  air. 

QUEEN  [Puzzled) 
In  the  air? 

DUKE  D'A. 

The  terrible  war-situation.  I  foresaw  the  Palace  would 
be  barricaded — lucky  I  knew  of  the  subway.  You 
must  escape. 

QUEEN 

Escape  ?    From  the  Palace  ? 

DUKE  D'A. 

Oh,  my  dear,  I  remember  your  mother's  fate.     Don't 

repeat  it. 

242 


QUEEN 

But  if  I  escape,  what  happens  to  Valdania? 

DUKE  D'A. 

Valdania  is  doomed  anyhow. 

QUEEN 

There  are  tears  in  your  voice — yes,  and  in  your  eyes. 

DUKE  D'A. 

I  did  not  know  I  should  feel  it  so  bitterly.  When 
they  made  me  Regent,  it  all  seemed  a  farcical  flum- 
mery— see  what  you  have  made  of  the  old  dilettante. 
A  thousand  years  of  history  to  end  in  the  dust ! 

[Brushes  hand  across  eyes.] 
But  I  can't  think  of  my  country,  only  of  you. 

QUEEN 

Only  of  me? 

DUKE  D'A. 

You  are  dearer  to  me  than  all  Valdania — oh,  don't 
shrink,  it's  not  a  love  like  that.  With  you,  your  body 
seems  in  your  soul.  I  will  get  the  Duchess — I  know 
of  a  safe  retreat  for  you  both. 

[The  crowd's  cry,  "Death  to  Margherita!"  again 

penetrates.] 
Ah,  come ! 

QUEEN 

But  these  poor  ignorant  people  who  are  crying  out 
there,  I  am  to  leave  them  at  Bosnavina's  mercy? 

243 


DUKE  D'A. 

Whether  you  live  or  die,  they  are  at  Bosnavina's 
mercy. 

QUEEN 

But  if  I  told  you  it  depended  only  on  me  to  hurl  a 
million  fresh  troops  upon  Bosnavina! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Oh,  God!     Is  it  possible? 
[Half  sobs.] 

QUEEN 

It  is  certain.  Victory  is  assured.  Our  heroes  will  not 
have  died  in  vain.  Bosnavina  will  be  crushed  between 
— but  quick !  Find  Cazotti  or  Roxo  and  tell  them  my 
answer  is  "Yes." 

DUKE  D'A.  [In  dazed  ecstasy] 
Bosnavina  will  be  crushed? 

QUEEN 

Don't  stand  maundering — go  before  I  change! 

[He    hurries    out    L.    transfigured,    half-sobbing. 

She  falls   on  her  knees  before   the  Madonna  at 

casement  R.] 
O  holy  mother,  help  me  up  this  Way  of  the  Cross ! 

[The  great  room  is  now  still  dimmer,  the  flames 

leap  mystically.] 
244 


VANNI  [At  right  wing,  staring  to  L.] 

All  clear! 

[Turns  head  R.] 

Come  along,  you ! 

[Sees  queen  and  is  retiring  in  confusion  and  mo- 
tioning to  his  men  to  retreat.] 

QUEEN 

Don't  be  so  frightened  of  me — glad  to  see  you  out 
of  hospital. 

VANNI 

Thank  you,  Your  Majesty,  for  all  your  kindness  there. 

QUEEN 

And  your  sister  that  was  worrying  so  over  her  hus- 
band? 

VANNI 

Oh,  we've  heard  from  him  now.     And  I've  had  such 
a  long  letter  about  our  victories. 
[Produces  it.] 

QUEEN  [Puzzled] 
Our  victories? 

VANNI   [Tendering  it] 

Page  2  is  the  best,  Your  Majesty — I  can't  turn  it. 

QUEEN  [Taking  it] 

Poor  fellow! 

245 


[A  weird  pause  as  she  reads.     Suddenly  she  stag- 
gers and  crumples  the  letter  in  her  fist.] 
So  this  is  what  victory  means !    Go !    Go ! 

VANNI  [Alarmed] 
Y-y-yes,  Your  Majesty. 
[Hasty  exit  R.] 

QUEEN 

And  Roxo  said  there  was  no  joy  of  blood.     They 

should  have  read  this  yesterday  in  the  Cathedral. 

[duke  now  divested  of  his  motor-coat  rushes  back 

L.) 

DUKE  D'A. 

You  have  tricked  me! 

QUEEN 

I  have  tricked  myself.     I  never  realised  before. 

[Rolls  the  letter  still  smaller.] 
Our  heroes!     Our  heroes! 

[cazotti,  the  baron  and  fiuma  tear  in.] 

CAZ. 

A  million  thanks,  Madam! 

BARON  GR.  [Beaming] 
One  per  man. 

FIUMA 

You  will  live  in  history! 
246 


QUEEN 

I  have  lived  in  blinkers.    .    .    .   To  be  sacrificed  to 

this ! 

[Hurls  letter  away.] 

DUKE  D'A. 

You  shall  not  sacrifice  yourself. 

CAZ. 

Pardon  me,  Duke.    We  have  the  royal  promise. 

DUKE  D'A. 

It  was  infamous  to  exact  it. 

CAZ. 

Ah,  I  knew  you  would  try  to  spoil  everything.  Roxo 
is  already  at  the  War  Office  cabling  the  glad  news  to 
Marrobio,  dictating  the  campaign.  Our  Queen  will 
not  play  us  false. 

QUEEN 

False — true — it  is  all  meaningless — let  these  wild 
beasts  rend  each  other — let  them  devour  me  and  be 
done  with  it.     Bring  back  your  priests. 

CAZ.   [Drawing  a  breath  of  relief] 

Ah!    .    .    .    Come,   Madam,   they  await  you   in  the 

chapel. 

V 

QUEEN 

In  the  chapel?     Profane  the  sanctuary?     Let  them 

come  here! 

247 


CAZ. 

But,  Madam ! 

QUEEN 

My  consent  is  the  real  marriage.     You  heard  their 
learned  exposition 

[Haughtily] 
You  have  our  ultimatum. 

[She  walks  haughtily  to  the  throne  and  mounts  the 

steps.] 

BARON  GR.  [Sotto  voce] 

But  this  very  hall  was  the  chapel  of  the  original  mon- 
astery. 

CAZ. 

So  it  was!    Bravo!    And  with  a  little  sprinkling 

[Aloud  and  with  a  deep  obeisance  to  the  QUEEN, 
who  has  now  seated  herself  on  the  throne.] 

Your  Majesty's  wish  is  law! 
[Sotto  voce  to  baron] 

By  the  way,  cable  your  Jew  to  sell  my  Bosnavian  bonds 

before  Amsterdam  learns  that 

[Exeunt  baron  and  cazotti.] 

DUKE  D'A.  [Aloud] 
Something  must  be  done,  Carlo ! 

FIUMA 

Nothing  can  be  done — now.     But  if  the  Prince  dares 

claim  his  bride ! 

[He  lays  his  hand  on  the  sword.] 
248 


QUEEN 

Ah,  no,  not  that !    It  would  be  murder,  trickery  .    .    . 

oh! 

[Covers  her  face.] 

[From  L.  bursts  out  a  joyous  carol  in  the  fresh 

voices  of  boy  choristers — "Roses,  roses  strew  and 

cover" — and  the  stir  of  an  advancing  procession 

becomes  audible.     The  QUEEN  starts  at  the  first 

strains.] 

QUEEN 

That  melody! 

DUKE  D'A. 

It  is  your  own  setting  of  our  nuptial  folk-song. 

FIUMA  [Bitterly] 
Cazotti's  cleverness  again ! 

[Enter  boy  choristers  in  white  surplices,  singing.] 

BOY  CHORISTERS 

Roses,  roses  strew  and  cover 
Happy  lass  and  happy  lover. 
Sun  on  bride  is  but  in  keeping, 
Rain  is  jealous  angels  weeping. 
[Behind  and  with  the  choir  come  other  priests  in 
the  gorgeous  robes  of  the  Greek  Church,  with  tall 
wax  candles  and  swinging  censers.    The  PATRIARCH 
in  his  jewelled  vestments  comes  along,  sprinkling 
from  a  little  chalice  and  murmuring  prayers.     The 
CARDINAL  is  at  his  side.    One  of  the  acolytes  bears 
249 


two  floral  crowns  on  a  tray,  and  another  a  wine- 
flask  and  a  glass.  Then  comes  the  whole  Court 
in  gala  attire,  the  pages  and  maids  of  honour  bear- 
ing great  bouquets  of  chrysanthemums  and  other 
winter  flowers.  The  countess  cazotti  carries  a 
basket  of  flax  and  hemp  seed  for  strewing  after  the 
ceremony.  Lastly  comes  captain  theopolou, 
walking  between  CAZOTTI  and  BARON  GRIPSTEIN, 
who  now  acting  as  best  man  carries  a  great  fir 
branch,  decorated  with  ribbon,  and  ending  in  a  gilt 
cross  tied  with  red  silk.  The  QUEEN  with  her  black 
dress  and  pale  face  makes  a  strange  contrast  with 
all  this  flamboyance  as  she  sits  rigid  on  her  throne. 
While  the  procession  is  filing  in,  an  official  has  been 
lighting  the  tall  candles  in  the  heavy  old  candle- 
sticks, and  another  has  been  spreading  a  red  silk 
carpet  in  the  centre  of  the  room.  As  captain 
THEOPOLOU  enters,  he  advances  alone  to  do  hom- 
age to  the  queen;  mechanically  she  puts  out  her 
hand,  but,  as  he  kisses  it,  she  draws  it  back  as  if 
scorched.  The  patriarch  motions  to  captain 
THEOPOLOU  to  take  up  his  stand  on  the  carpet, 
which  he  does.] 

PATRI. 

If  Your  Majesty  would  deign  to  descend? 

QUEEN  [Not  moving,  pointing  to  floral  crown] 
What  is  that? 

PATRI. 

The  bridal  crown,  Madam. 
250 


QUEEN 

It  is  the  heavier  of  the  two. 

[She  takes  off  her  crown,  then  rising,  places  it  on 
the  throne  and  descends,  like  a  sleepwalker,  and 
stands  beside  captain  theopolou.  The  duch- 
ess and  BARON  gripstein  stand  by  as  if  supporting 
the  couple,  and  the  duchess  adjusts  over  the 
queen's  head  a  wedding-veil,  glittering  with  gold 
sequins.'] 

PATRI.  [To  captain] 
You  have  brought  the  rings? 

CAPT.  THEO.  [Producing  them] 
Blessed  by  the  Metropolitan. 

PATRI. 

Gold  for  the  bridegroom,  silver  for  the  bride. 

[Gives  the  silver  ring  to  the  QUEEN.] 
These  you  will  exchange.    Wherein,  dear  brethren  and 
sisters,  we  may  read  an  image 

CAZ.  [On  pins  and  needles] 

Is  this  the  place  for  the  sermon,  Monsignore  ? 

PATRI. 

I  understand  your  excellency's  impatience. 

[Joins  the  captain's  right  hand  to  the  queen's 
left.     She  drops  the  ring.     The  BARON  hastens  to 
pick  it  up  for  her.] 
Are  you  Demetrius,  surnamed  Theopolou,  Captain  of 
251 


Rolmenian  cavalry,  duly  empowered  by  oath  and  by 
letter  here  to  hand  to  represent  in  this  rite  of  holy 
matrimony  your  lord  and  commander-in-chief,  His 
Royal  Highness,  Prince  Igmor,  Alexander,  Constan- 
tino, Moravieff,  Parma,  Duke  of  Moldavia,  second 
son  of  His  Majesty,  Rodolpho,  King  of  Rolmenia, 
Archduke  of  Wallachia? 

CAPT.  THEO. 
I  am. 

PATRI. 

And  do  you,  Demetrius  Theopolou,  as  his  proxy  and 
in  his  name,  take  to  lawful  wife  our  sister  Margher- 
ita,  Carina,  Rosamonda,  Queen  of  Valdania,  Duchess 
of  Bosnavina? 

CAPT.  THEO. 
I  do. 

PATRI 

And  do  you,  Margherita  Carina ! 

DUKE  D'A. 

Stop !     If  this  be  the  Greek  Church  service ( 

CAZ. 

This  interruption  is  unseemly — Proceed! 

DUKE  D'A. 

You  interrupted,  yourself,  just  now! 
252 


FIUMA 

Surely  if  there  is  any  valid  objection 

PATRI. 

What  is  it  Your  Highness  wishes  to  say? 

DUKE  D'A. 

That  by  your  Church  what  you  are  doing  now  can 
never  be  undone. 

CARDI. 

Nor  by  mine. 

DUKE  D'A. 

Not  so.  Our  Church,  though  it  denies  divorce,  admits 
nullity.     Besides,  the  Pope  can  always 

CAZ. 

The  form  of  service  is  beyond  discussion. 

QUEEN  [Wearily] 

Do  get  the  ceremony  over! 

PATRI. 

Do  you,  Margherita,  Carina,  Rosamonda,  Queen  of 
Valdania,  Duchess  of  Bosnavina,  accept  Prince  Igmor, 
as  here  represented  by  proxy ? 

FIUMA 

But  what  guarantee  have  we  against  imposture? 
253 


CAPT.     THEO.     [Withdrawing     hand    from     the 

queen's  to  grasp  sword] 
Signor! 

CAZ. 

It  these  interruptions  continue,  Valdania  is  doomed. 

CARDI. 

Proceed,  your  Beatitude. 

PATRI.   [Re-joining  their  hands — the  queen's  falls 

passively,  like  a  dead  weight] 
Do  you,  Margherita,  Carina,  Rosamonda,  Queen  of 
Valdania,  Duchess  of  Bosnavina,  take  as  your  lawful 
husband,  as  here  represented  by  proxy ? 

[ROXO  comes  rushing  in  L.,  waving  telegrams.] 

ROXO 

Stop  the  marriage!     Marrobio  has  conquered! 
[Confusion.     Joyous  outcries. ] 

ROXO 

The  first  cable,  Your  Majesty,  delayed  by  the  snow- 
storm, runs:  "Allah  is  great.  Following  the  panic  of 
a  munitions  explosion  in  Ripo  have  recaptured  the 
city  and  taking  the  pass  by  surprise  have  swooped 
down  on  Torax.  Joined  by  thousands  of  Valdanians 
am  marching  on  the  capital. — Marrobio." 

COURTIERS 

Viva  Marrobio!     Bravissimo!     Viva  Marrobio! 
254 


[  The  courtiers  clap  hands  and  wave  handkerchiefs 
enthusiastically .] 

BARON  GR.  {Heard  hysterically  above  all  the  voices 

as  he  waves  his  fir  branch] 
I  knew  the  God  of  Valdania  would  not  desert  us! 

[Breaks  down,  sobs.] 

COURTIERS 

Sh! 

ROXO    [Holding  up   the  second  cable  till  there  is 

silence] 
Dated  to-day.  "Allah  is  merciful.  Capital  captured 
at  hour  of  the  first  prayer.  65,000  prisoners,  380 
guns.  The  two  million  Valdanians  risen  to  join  us. 
Royal  family  and  Government  in  flight.  I  present 
Bosnavina  to  its  Duchess,  I  kiss  the  hem  of  her 
Majesty's  robe  and  will  tapestry  her  Palace  with 
conquered  flags. — Marrobio." 

COURTIERS 

Viva  Margherita !     Viva  the  Duchess  of  Bosnavina ! 

BARON  GR.  [Ecstatically] 

"When  Rome  yields  up  our  royal  seed 1" 


ROXO  [Handing  cables  to  fiuma] 

Read  them  in  the  Piazza,  post  them  up !     Corporal, 

let  your  men  unbar  the  Palace  and  spread  the  news ! 

[At  a  sign  from  vanni,  the  men  file  out.     Exit 

VANNI.] 

255 


FIUMA  [With  a  sob  in  his  voice] 
My  congratulations,  Madam. 
[Bows  and  exit.] 

QKL.  [In  a  hard  tone] 

And  my  humble  homage  to  the  Duchess  of  Bosnavina. 

Your  Majesty  will  rank  with  Alpastroom! 

COURTIERS 
Bravo ! 

[They  wave  handkerchiefs.] 

QUEEN 

/  rank  with  Alpastroom? 

CAZ. 

Did  you  not  draw  his  sword? 

QUEEN 

God  help  me !  But  let  the  man  who  saved  the  throne 
enjoy  it.  Pay  Marrobio  your  homage  henceforth — 
congratulate  me  only  on  my  escape. 

ROXO 

Your  Majesty  is  overwrought.    You  must  rest. 

QUEEN 

Yes,  I  can  rest  at  last.     Gorged  by  spoils  and  glory, 
with  a  second  Alpastroom  to  feed  her  rapacious  patri- 
otism, Valdania  no  longer  needs  me. 
256 


ROXO 

Valdania  needs  you  more  than  ever. 

QUEEN  [Fiercely] 

What  more  does  she  ask  of  me?  I  offered  her  my 
heart  to  eat,  my  body  to  befoul.  Beggared  of  all  that 
makes  life  bearable,  did  I  hold  back  even  my  one  last 
possession — my  loneliness?  You  saved  me  from  that 
pit — I  bless  you  as  one  raised  by  Christ  from  hell. 
Through  you  I  can  breathe  the  air  and  see  the  stars. 
Be  merciful  once  more  and  let  me  share  my  loneliness 
with  God. 

DUKE  D'A. 

Go  into  a  convent!     You! 

CAZ. 

You  would  yield  your  throne  to  Marrobio ! 

BARON  GR. 

We  Christians  will  never  accept  a  Mohammedan  ruler! 

CAZ. 

Death  sooner. 

COURTIERS 

Ay!     Sooner  death! 

ROXO 

You  hear,  Madam.    You  would  unchain  civil  war.   A 

murderous  rivalry  of  pretenders! 

257  R 


QUEEN  [Desperately] 

Then  I  must  be  prisoned  here?    All  my  life? 

CAZ. 

Who  prisons  you?    But  the  moment  when  Marorbio 
is  swollen  with  triumph ! 

ROXO  [Turning  on  him] 

There  will  never  be  a  moment,  your  excellency.     Her 

Majesty  will  never  be  false  to  her  blood  or  her  oath 

of  fidelity. 

[  The  sound  of  the  mob  cheering  outside  penetrates 
dully.     uMargherita!    Margherita/"] 

Hark,  Madam !    Your  people  are  calling  for  you  1 

QUEEN 

That  mob,  mindless  as  the  sea  in  its  smiles  and  furies ! 

PATRI. 

Your  Majesty's  God-given  charge. 

CARD!. 

To  whose  service  I  consecrated  you. 

PATRI. 

On  such  a  day  you  must  rejoice  together. 

QUEEN 

Let  them  rejoice  alone.     I  will  have  no  part  in  the 

saturnalia  of  the  sword. 

258 


ROXO 

Do  not  blaspheme  the  sword,  Madam,  nor  the  sacri- 
fices by  which  God  shapes  the  peoples. 

QUEEN 

By  which  the  devil  deforms  them.  Beasts  are  less 
savage  than  men  under  blood-lust.  No,  no,  General, 
leave  it  to  the  Church  to  confuse  the  sword  with  the 
crucifix.  If  you  would  have  me  stay  Queen  to  fend 
off  war  within,  you  must  swear  to  me,  Signori,  that 
there  shall  nevermore  be  war  without. 

CAZ. 

Our  conquest  of  Bosnavia  assures  that,  Madam. 

QUEEN 

Would  it  not  be  surer  if  we  gave  Bosnavina  her  free- 
dom back,  keeping  only  our  recovered  province? 

DUKE  D'A. 

Oh,  Madam! 

[Resentful  murmurs  from  COURTIERS] 

ROXO 

Give  Bosnavina  freedom  for  revenge ! 

QUEEN 

Reason   to   desist  from   revenge !      Our  grace  would 
turn  her  swords  into  ploughshares. 

259 


ROXO 

It  will  be  safer,  Your  Majesty,  if  we  turn  her  swords 
into  crutches. 

[Sardonic  laughter  from  COURTIERS.] 

QUEEN 

Then  you  mean  to  treat  her  as  she  treated  our  prov- 
ince? 

CAZ. 

Are  we  barbarians,  Madam? 

BARON  GR. 

We  shall  give  her  our  culture. 

CAZ. 

Peace  is  our  one  aspiration.  Under  your  Majesty's 
benign  rule  Bosnavina  will  be  blest.  Marrobio  would 
lash  her  to  madness. 

QUEEN  [Sinking  into  chair  L.  C] 

Then  I  am  to  be  chained  to  a  crown  I  do  not  want! 

ROXO 

Just  because  you  do  not  want  it,  you  are  the  one  fit 

person  to  wear  it.     Will  not  your  eminence  replace 

it  on  the  royal  head! 

[The  cardinal  brings  the  crown  that  has  been 
lying  on  the  throne.  As  he  moves  to  and  fro  the 
cries  and  cheering  of  the  crowd  penetrate  again. 
"Margherita!  Margherita!y)  The  QUEEN,  a 
broken  figure  in  black,  sits  motionless. ] 

260 


QUEEN  [As  he  approaches  her] 

Let  me  be !     You  have  crowned  me  already ! 

CARDI. 

But  not  for  Bosnavina,  Madam. 

[Applause  of  courtiers.  He  adjusts  the  crown.] 
Receive  as  ruler  of  Bosnavina  the  Crown  of  glory, 
honour  and  joy — and  may  God  crown  you  with  all 
princely  virtues  in  this  life  and  with  an  everlasting 
crown  of  glory  in  the  life  which  is  to  come  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen! 

COURTIERS 

Amen! 

QUEEN 

I  ask  only  that  God  should  crown  me  with  Peace ! 

CAPT.  THEO. 

Then — pardon  me,  Madam — had  we  not  better  com- 
plete the  ceremony? 

ROXO 

You  menace,  Signor! 

CAPT.  THEO. 

You  do  not  suppose  my  Prince  or  my  King  will  stom- 
ach your  insult! 

ROXO 

Your  Prince  is  too  cautious.    He  looks  too  long  before 

he  leaps. 

261 


CAPT.  THEO. 

He  will  not  have  to  leap  far.     Do  not  forget  he  is 

on  the  frontier  of  your  new  possession. 

QUEEN  {Springing  up] 

A  new  slaughter?    O,  my  God! 

ROXO 

The  God  of  Valdania  has  not  saved  us  from  Bos- 
navina  to  abase  us  before  Rolmenia.  Beware  lest  we 
annex  you  too! 

[Sinister   sympathetic   murmurs   from    the   COUR- 
TIERS.] 

CAPT.  THEO. 

Do  not  be  too  sure  even  of  Bosnavina.     She  will  yet 
witness  her  Revenge — with  our  help  and  God's.     I 
salute  you,  Madam. 
[Haughty  exit'.] 

QUEEN 

No !  No !  Call  him  back !  Let  me  be  bound  on  your 
peace-altar. 

ROXO 

Sacrifice  you  to  a  petty  princeling!    No,  Madam.  The 
Queen  of  Valdania  and  Bosnavina  can  command  a 
higher  alliance. 
262 


QUEEN 

And  it  was  for  this  you  saved  me!  For  your  unholier 
alliance!     Oh! 

[Sinks  into  her  chair  and  covers  her  eyes.] 

CARDI.   , 

Come,  Madam,  a  Te  Deum  in  the  chapel ! 

QUEEN 

To  thank  God  for  Victory !  When  Bosnavina  is  pray- 
ing Him  for  Revenge !  When  Rolmenia  hangs  like  a 
thundercloud!  When  only  the  little  candle  of  my  life 
stands  between  Valdania  and  the  blackness  of  civil 
war!     Leave  me,  leave  me,  all  of  you! 

[All  look  at  one  another  in  hesitation.  At  a  sign 
from  CAZOTTI  the  procession  begins  to  file  out. 
The  choristers  start  their  Greek  Church  chant.] 

CHORISTERS 

"Happy  those  that  fear  the  Lord,"  etc. 

[The  hymn  mingles  with  the  national  anthem, 
which  the  crowd  has  now  started  outside.  As  the 
whole  glittering  company  with  its  candles  straggles 
out,  the  great  medieval  room  becomes  much  dim- 
mer, and  the  flames  of  the  logs  flicker  more 
weirdly  than  ever  over  the  blazoned  windows  and 
the  stone  kings.  But  after  an  instant  the  church- 
bells  clang  out  joyously,  rockets  and  illuminations 
begin  to  be  seen  vaguely  through  the  coloured 
glass,  guzlas  tinkle  and  bagpipes  shrill,  and  the 
national  anthem  changes  into  Margherita's  war- 

263 


march  sung  by  thousands  of  throats.  COR- 
PORAL vanni  and  his  men,  entering  R.  with  their 
stretcher,  march  unconsciously  to  its  rhythm. 
They  disappear  on  balcony  R.,  the  opening  of 
which  sends  up  the  melody  in  fuller  volume,  while 
in  the  frosty  air  the  rockets  are  seen  rising  keenly 
against  the  sombre  background  of  the  mountains. 
The  wind  bangs  the  casement  to  behind  the  stretch- 
er-bearers and  the  noises  dwindle.] 

QUEEN  [Shivering] 

How  cold  it  is! 

[She  uncovers  her  eyes.] 

Night  so  soon! 

[The  stretcher-bearers  re-enter,  with  the  Pacifist's 
body  under  a  white  sheet,  and  the  joyous  street- 
sounds  swell  and  subside  with  the  opening  and 
closing  of  the  casement.  Awed  by  their  burden, 
they  march  out  solemnly.  The  queen,  left  alone, 
continues  her  frozen  stare  at  the  empty  dusk. 
Then  her  lips  shape  a  murmur.] 

QUEEN 

Daddy  was  right !    Queen  in  a  cockpit ! 

[Slow  curtain] 


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